


You Wouldn't Survive Without Me

by Sass_Dragon34



Category: The 100 (TV), The 100 Series - Kass Morgan
Genre: Banishment, Bunker, F/M, Kae, Romance, Sassy, Sexy, The Ark, new characters - Freeform, sarcastic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-06
Updated: 2016-10-12
Packaged: 2018-08-19 19:38:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 39
Words: 39,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8222504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sass_Dragon34/pseuds/Sass_Dragon34
Summary: I took characters and various scenes from the TV series and the books, but made the story from a different perspective and changed up things a bit. I'm the author so I can do that! The story centers around John Murphy and a girl named Kae. Its the progression of meeting, getting into trouble, surviving said trouble, and overall being the lovable screw ups they are together. I don't want to spoil too much so I'm keeping it vague. Characters that they would naturally encounter in camp are worked into their story. Kae is super sassy so Murphy really doesn't know what to do with her.





	1. I'm An Idiot

Her hands were covered in grime, oil, and many cuts. She lamented that her hands represented how different her life was since the simpler and safer days of the Ark that still hung somewhere in space above her. She knew now that they had abandoned them all here on this evil world and her friends still on the Ark were lost to her forever. She would never look out from behind the thick window of her cell and stare at the millions of stars that surrounded her again. The stars always seemed to wrap themselves around her home, trapping her from ever experiencing life anywhere but the ship she was prisoner on. Little did she realize that those stars would not keep her prisoner forever; she had left them behind her when she and 99 others plummeted to the Earth. It would have been easier if their drop ship had exploded instead of surviving. Then they wouldn’t be in a world that wanted to kill them at every turn.   
Granted her lot could be worse. She could be in charge of the smoke shack where they preserved and prepared their meats. The three guys that worked in there always looked miserable, sweaty, and covered in animal gunk. She was worked day in and day out to find anything that could be used as a weapon. Anything that could be used to protect the 100 from the world surrounding their camp was considered priceless. She mostly made small knives out of scrap metal. The trick was to find a way to keep one end from cutting your hand to pieces when it is used. Hints all the cuts decorating her hands. Bellamy Blake, the guy who had assumed control from the moment they landed had ordered her and her team to make enough for everyone in the camp to have a weapon and then some. Knives are lost in scuffles with grounders you know. All her life, she had been pushed aside and told what to do, but she had a mind of her own. She wished she had been born a natural leader like Bellamy or Clarke Griffin who seemed to have Bellamy wrapped around her finger. Bellamy commanded a small group of guys that acted as slave drivers for the workers in camp. Supposedly they were camp security and Bellamy’s seconds. They certainly mistreated their titles most of the time though. They spat at the workers and mostly just stood around with their hormones building as they hoped there would be a fight.   
In a way, she was jealous and wished she was a part of the group. At least she would have some pull in the camp. One of the guys seemed closer to Bellamy than the rest, John Murphy. He was fearless and reckless, had a sarcastic remark for any comment. She had always preferred to be around people who seemed like trouble. It gave her some excitement, something to keep her on her toes when the days in the stars seemed to drone on and on. Unfortunately, this is also what landed her in a cell with the other 99 prisoners.   
Murphy walked by, hands in his pockets, looking for someone out of line he could call out. Her eyes followed him across the compound. She noticed the way his now very dirty hair was placed across his forehead and dusted the top of his eyes. She didn’t mind how filthy he was; after all they were all living in the same shower-less world.   
Completely distracted, the knife she was working on slipped in her hand. The cut it made connected several of the smaller cuts she already owned. The knife landed with a thud in the dirt and sprinkles of blood decorated the earth around it. She snapped out of her musings and drew in a quick breath as the sprinkles of blood grew into an actual problem. Travis, a co-worker of sorts jumped up and ran to her. He began to shout for a medic- aka Clarke.   
Kae hated making scenes and most of all seeming incompetent of doing her job. She silently cussed at herself for being so careless; she knew better and typically wasn’t such a girly girl. But that Murphy was quite the distraction; there was something about him to drew her in.   
She could hear Bellamy call for people to back up and get back to their jobs. Apparently she had drawn quite the crowd; anything to give people an excuse to take a break.   
“Murphy! Go find Clarke; I think she is out gathering food with the others” demanded Bellamy.   
Murphy obviously was not fond of the idea of tracking down Clarke- “Can’t you just rub some dirt on it and call it good? Do we really need to find Clarke?”   
“Murphy, stop being a lazy ass and go find her” Reluctantly, Murphy trudged out the gates to find the food gathering party.  
“How did this happen?” Bellamy was now giving his attention to Kae who wished to curl up in a dark hole away from everyone and pretend all was fine.   
“I ah… I guess I was tired and lost my grip. I take full responsibility. I’m sorry to cause a problem…”   
“We will get Clarke over here to patch you up. Take a short break, get some water, before you return. I wish I could give you more time, but we don’t know when the grounders will be back. We all have to keep going.”  
Bellamy had grabbed some cloth and wrapped it around her hand and wrist. Apparently the cut was longer than she realized. Typical good luck on her end…  
Clarke rounded the corner of the gates and ran up to the small party huddled around her. Travis had picked up the knife and was covering up the blood on the ground. Not seeing the blood kept her stomach from panicking as much.   
“What happened here” Clarke breathlessly inquired. Kae wondered how far away she had to run from to get back here.  
Bellamy filled her in and Murphy wandered back up past the gates toward them. Clarke was upset that Travis had already covered up the blood so she didn’t know how much Kae had lost, but was pleased that Bellamy had wrapped her hand and wrist.  
“Murphy, help Kae into my tent so I can bandage her wound.”  
“She has two working feet doesn’t she. She hurt and hand not her feet.” Murphy smirked over at Kae thinking himself to be above helping the workers.   
“Murphy, she has lost a good bit of blood. She will be dizzy. So get over there and help her. Now.” Clarke did not have any patience for his games.   
Kae wished it could be anyone else but him to help her. She looked so vulnerable and pathetic. Before Murphy could get over to her, she tried to stand on her own. For a second she thought she was going to be able to stand strong and walk herself to Clarke’s tent like the strong independent woman she is. Her body had other plans. She almost face-planted as soon as she stood. Murphy, not being complete scum, grabbed her before she hit the ground. If she wasn’t bleeding so bad, she probably would have blushed like crazy.   
His arms circled around her waist and pulled her in so he could keep a good grip and not drop her. Once she had her legs steadied under her, he moved his arms up so she could lean on his shoulders and slowly maneuver toward Clarke and her waiting bandage. He smelled like the pine trees around them and the dirt that they all lived upon. It was almost a nice smell; most of the 100 smelled horrendous at this point. No one stayed inside together without a breeze unless absolutely necessary. His arms were strong around her; she did not fear falling as they made their way.   
Clarke hustled them inside and Murphy brought her over to a bunk and set her down. Assuming his job to be done, he left the tent and wondered off.   
Clarke gingerly removed the cloth around Kae’s hand and wrist and inspected the cut. It was long, but not deep. “It’s not bad. We will wrap it up and you’ll need to avoid using it for a day or two.”  
“But Bellamy said I need to keep working today. We don’t know when the grounders will come after us again!”   
“Listen to what I am saying instead. You are done working for today so go get some rest. Enjoy the time off while you can. Travis can handle everything for now.”   
Not fully convinced, Kae slowly made her way back to her tent after Clarke had bandaged her up and given her some nuts to snack on. Just before she plopped onto her lump of cloth she called a bed, Kae heard voices outside there were growing in intensity. It sounded like they might be under attack so she rushed out again to see a mob of people gathered.   
She wasn’t sure what had happened, but everyone seemed really pissed off about something. She found a guy named Jasper who was already at the mob and asked what had gone down.   
“They found Wells’ dead body and a murder weapon!” Kae didn’t know Wells all that much; they had never interacted one on one. Last night, the whole camp could hear that he and Clarke had gotten into an argument. Seemed like he had a thing for her, but was somehow responsible for the death of her father. The guy didn’t have a chance with Clarke. Wells had walked off in his anger and frustration. That was the last anyone had seen of him until now.   
“What! Was it the grounders who killed him?”  
“No, it was Murphy! It was his knife that was found with Wells.” Jasper moved deeper into the crowd of people, shouting curses at Murphy, calling for justice.  
Kae stood there, just outside the crowd stunned. Murphy wouldn’t have killed Wells. It could have been anyone, including the grounders. Everyone hated him; he was Jaha, the Ark Chancellor’s son. He was privileged and stood for everything that stood against us. Murphy had threatened him plenty sure, but we all knew he wouldn’t actually hurt him. Would he? No, it was someone else. They had the wrong guy.  
At this point, the mob had turned from angry to furious. They demanded that he be punished for his crime. Frantically, Kae plead with those on the outside of the group to back off and think this through. She needed them to believe in his innocence in this. She couldn’t talk any of them down and the crowd only grew. She knew Bellamy and Murphy were at the center of the mob. Bellamy was pleading for some order as well, but was giving into pressure easily. Where was his loyalty to his friends? He must believe him to be guilty as well.   
Suddenly, the crowd pushed in further and she could hear Murphy cry out as they bound his hands and forced him back towards the woods. It hit her then what they intended to do; someone had tied a nose and had it waiting for Murphy. They were going to hang him as punishment.   
Panic over took Kae; there was no one to turn to for help. She was on her own, helplessly watching this guy she cared about be handed over for execution. Bellamy still stood at the front of the crowd looking for a way out of this, but listening to the crowd’s demands.   
Kae fell to her knees as the noose was tightened over Murphy’s throat. Nothing she did helped. The ever smooth and confident Murphy appeared terrified, but kept fighting for freedom from the mob and the rope pressing against his neck. As if in slow motion, the box was ripped out from under him and his body struggled against the rope that now held him suspended above this evil ground and those shouting curses into the night sky. He seemed to stay this way for ages, but Kae had found her fight. She had stood and pushed with all her might to the front of the mob. She had a whole plan prepared and was ready to get him off the rope, but a small voice timidly called out. The crowd fell to a hush as the small figure of a girl named Charlotte stepped forward claiming that he didn’t kill Wells. She did. Kae saw her chance and pulled out one of the knives she had crafted from her left boot. She thrusted it into the rope that was draining Murphy’s life away and he fell back to the ground, gasping for air.   
With immense relief she ran over to him and fumbled with the rope until it was removed from his body. She heard the crowd behind her still demanding action be taken so she pulled herself up to face them all. Her knife stretched from her hand ready to defend the innocent man behind her. Yet, no one seemed ready to damn poor little Charlotte or go through Kae to continue to rage against Murphy. For minutes everyone stood at a cross road until Murphy found his anger again. He stood behind Kae and pushed her aside.  
“I can handle this; I don’t need your help.” With rising anger, he faced the crowd. “Why haven’t you hung Charlotte?! That seems to be the going rate for killing Wells these days! String her up too! Or was this just about killing me?!”   
“We need to think this through! We can’t just go around killing people! We will talk to Charlotte and figure this out.” Clarke, who had finally come onto the scene, seemed wary of the angry faces surrounding her.   
“That’s not good enough! You were all too ready to kill me, but as soon as someone confesses to murder, you aren’t so sure anymore? Bull shit Clarke.”   
Bellamy began to hustle Charlotte away from the crowd. “We’re going to find out what happened. She won’t get away with this. We just need the story first.”  
“You are all shit. Charlotte deserves to die.”   
Charlotte was lead into Bellamy’s tent and the crowd gathered around outside of it, waiting for what to do next. Murphy continued to shout curses and threats at the tent. Some began to follow his lead and shout as well. It didn’t take long for them to side with Murphy instead of wanting him dead. Kae stood back from it all. She was hurt that Murphy had so easily discarded her to save his pride. She would have done the same though.   
She wanted revenge for Murphy, but also did not believe that killing Charlotte was the best answer. She wondered why she cared so much for this guy who seemed to care little for her. She was willing to put herself in the middle of an angry crowd to save that ungrateful ass. Boy had she had a day. Once again, she missed her friends up in the stars. She could have talked to them about her confusing feelings.   
The day passed on. She couldn’t be sure how much time had gone by; she just knew it was well into the night and no one had gotten any sleep yet. Murphy was still outside the tent, fury clear across his features. Kae could tell he was getting tired though. He kept reaching up to the swollen lines that ran across his neck from the rope and his voice seemed to carry less and less as the night drew on. Everyone around had either drifted away or sat down and were quietly watching Murphy pace back and forth, creating a now well-worn trail. He feet that once stomped by had begun to drag and stir up dust.   
Kae began to consider calling it a night and trying to sleep, no doubt work would resume tomorrow like nothing happened. It had finally quieted down after all.   
Wait. It’s quiet. Murphy wasn’t causing a ruckus and no noise or light seemed to seep from under Bellamy’s tent any longer. She realized she had dozed off where she was sitting just behind Bellamy’s tent. She did not know what had transpired while she was snoozing or when Murphy and co had disappeared.   
She struggled to her feet; all of the events from that day had left her feeling wary and weak. But she needed to know that Murphy hadn’t done anything stupid and that Charlotte wasn’t dead.   
She peeked between the worn brown flaps that lead into Bellamy’s tent. Kae prayed that no one was home. It would be hard to explain why she was looking inside the very male leader’s living quarters.   
She let out a quiet sigh when she realized that it was in fact unoccupied. There was no sign of Clarke, Bellamy, or Charlotte. So where had they gone? Now she worried that Murphy had done something stupid after all. Taking a last look around for clues as to what happened, she noticed that the back of the tent was caught on the edge of a crate. There were footprints in the dirt as though someone had exited there.   
Kae slowly realized that they had walked right past her while she nodded off. They likely saw her sitting there and had waited for her to either leave or fall asleep so they could escape the tent undetected. She likely had been a problem for them and they could have gotten away a lot sooner had she not been in the way. If Charlotte did not have enough time to escape, that would be on her.   
Kae estimated that she had not been asleep long so Murphy must have realized quickly that they were not in the tent. He wouldn’t be far behind them. And she wouldn’t be far behind him!  
She had to leave now and try to make sure his reckless behavior didn’t make him an actual murderer. Let’s leave that to the little girl that Clarke and Bellamy are protecting. She made sure her knife was still tucked away in her left boot and trudged off into the woods.   
Being outside the camp walls on her own at night is not something she had ever wished upon herself. Being outside the walls during the day is bad enough, but at night it is practically a death wish. Grounders seemed to be sufficiently scattered around every corner of this area and ready to attack at a moment’s notice. At least that is what she heard. She had never been outside the walls herself. She was just a weapons manufacturer, not a warrior. She wanted to limit the wounds on her body to what scrap metal does to her hands.   
“I’ll be lucky to make it to morning without being stabbed…”


	2. I'm Going To Die

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The plot thickens as Kae makes a decision that seems insane.

The woods seemed to hang around her like snares ready to capture her and never release. For goodness sake, she had lived in space her whole life. Plants in general are foreign let alone dense woods that swallow up any light and hope.  
Her feet tripped repeatedly over roots and rocks. She thanked whatever god is out there for giving her good boots. Back in space, they seemed pointless, but now- they were life. They reach just above the ankles and lace up with taught brown laces. The shoes are made out of a sturdy brown leather that snuggly supports her ankles and protects her toes.  
Kae reached up to swat back a low hanging branch when she finally heard a noise up ahead. At first she was joyous that life was not too far away. She wanted to sprint up to the sounds. Then she remembered whose territory she was in- the grounders. What if it wasn’t her people and it was the monsters that would chop her into tiny pieces before breakfast.  
She inched forward to see if there was a vantage point from which to look at the point the sound came from.  
SNAP!  
Horrified she realized she had made a wrong step and crunched down on a brittle limb that split beneath her feet. She silently whispered “Shit Shit Shit…” over and over again. She knew she was a goner. Everyone back at the camp would never know what happened to her. They will all probably blame it on someone innocent who will be hung in her name.  
She knew running was hopeless at this point so she waited and listened to her heart thump wildly in her chest. She was prey caught in a trap; this is the end of the road. Tears couldn’t even come she was so scared.  
Heavy footfalls crept up through the trees toward her. It sounded like a whole group. “Maybe they will make it fast” she thought fleetingly.  
Finally faces came into view. First one, two, three, then four individuals piled out from behind the trees and bushes. She stared at them each in the face then realized that this was not the end. Travis, Rodriguez, Nate, and Murphy were all staring at her with curious eyes and varying looks of surprise.  
Travis spoke up first. “What are you doing out here! You could be killed!”  
“Poor thing looks like she saw a ghost!” taunted Nate.  
Murphy stepped forward and grabbed her arm tight. He pulled her aside, his eyes stared at her severely.  
“What do you think you are doing? Are you following us?” His words were cold and only loud enough for her to hear. Her mind barely made a move to respond.  
“I ah…I was following…you…” Her senses were sluggishly returning to her.  
“Why.” It seemed more of a command than a question.  
Suddenly, she wasn’t entirely sure of the “why” anymore. It all seemed like a dumb idea from long ago.  
She obviously was taking too long to answer, because in that moment his breathing quickened and his eyes seemed to stare straight into her brain as if to find the answer himself. His feet shifted under him and she realized he hadn’t yet let go of her arm. It was a vice-like grip that wasn’t going to let go anytime soon. That is twice today that he has held onto me, she thought idly.  
Finally, the words came. “I wanted to make sure you didn’t do anything dumb.”  
His expression became confused instead of the severe look he had been holding thus far. Kae’s answer had thrown him; it wasn’t what he expected to hear. He had figured she was out there to stop him from killing Charlotte, because she didn’t want the cute little girl harmed. Instead, she had been out there for him; it didn’t make sense.  
“What?” His gaze quickly turned severe again. His dark eyes glared down at her from behind his long dark bangs that fell into his face.  
“I wanted to make sure you didn’t become the killer she is. She deserves justice and you have every right to want revenge. But not this way.”  
“I already have killed. That’s why I’m down here in the first place.”  
That did throw a kink into her plans. She knew he had broken the law to get sent down here to this god forsaken land, they all had. She didn’t know what he had done. Thoughts raced through her mind. How many had he killed? Why did he do it? Surely he had a good reason… Am I really different?  
“It doesn’t matter. When we landed here, out slates were wiped clean. You aren’t that person any more John Murphy.”  
“Do you really believe that? Someday, the Ark will come down here and we will all be back in our cells, treated like trash that can be thrown away when inconvenient.”  
“I need to believe that; for me.”  
Murphy’s eyes softened again. He realized he wasn’t the only one down here who wanted to run away from their past. He didn’t regret what he had done, he just wished people understood why he had done it. He was tired of being treated like shit; tired of being alone. Not that he would admit that to anyone; he hardly allowed himself to admit it.  
“I’m not going to change your mind am I.”  
“No.”  
“Then let’s keep moving. We need to catch up with Charlotte, Clarke, and Bellamy.”  
Murphy didn’t even question why she was willing to come or if she should come. He decided that once this girl set her mind to something she wasn’t going to change it. He knew just what that was like.  
“She is coming with us. Let’s move!”  
“Why is she coming? She’ll slow us down.” Spat Rodriguez.  
“I said- Move.” Murphy didn’t leave time for arguing. He started to make his way through the limbs and wind his way across the uneven ground. Kae was thankful that he hadn’t questioned her choice to tag along. Her fight quota for the day was way used up. Watching him move up ahead, she wished she could move with as much skill as he seemed to have. She wondered how he had gotten so good at traveling through the woods in the short time they had been on the ground.  
It wasn’t long into their murdering adventure that Rodriguez, their resident tracker apparently, found evidence of someone small having passed through recently. How he knew that, Kae had no idea. Their pace slowed down greatly so that Rodriguez could follow the trail and everyone could be stealthy.  
Everyone stopped suddenly and held their breath; they could hear someone whimpering on the other side of the brush piled just in front of them.  
The ever brave and reckless Murphy jumped into action and swung his body around to the other side and landed face to face with Charlotte. His face twisted into a devilish grin as he locked eyes onto the small form that had nearly cost him his life. He didn’t make a move toward her. He just stood there, towering over her frightened body that had been crouching beneath a fallen branch.  
The rest of the entourage made its way around to stand behind Murphy. The males in the group waited for Murphy to make his move so they could swoop in and finish off the prey.  
Kae watched the girl with pity. She, herself, had been in the same position earlier that night when she didn’t know if she were going to be grounder entertainment or not. The Murphy that had faced her then, was not the vengeful person that now stood before Charlotte. Kae also did not make a move to stop Murphy though. She had no right to be the moral compass here. Murphy knew full well what he was getting himself into.  
Dawn was beginning to filter into the over-hanging trees above the group. A new day was usually a blessing, but this day didn’t seem strong enough to wipe out what was soon to transpire.  
Moments passed. Murphy finally had his fill standing there over her. “Where are Clarke and Bellamy?”  
“They didn’t do anything wrong. That was me! Punish me, not them!” Charlotte acted far too old for someone as young as she was. She was likely the youngest in the whole camp.  
“We already know that! I asked you where they are!” His temper began to show again; the calm before the storm was over.  
“I ran away from them. I wanted to go back to camp and face my punishment. They didn’t understand.”  
“I’ll save you the walk. You can be punished here instead.”  
Charlotte said nothing in response. She had accepted that this was inevitable. She had killed Wells so she could finally get some sleep. Nightmares of what his father did to her parents plagued her night after night. She couldn’t punish his father for killing her family while she was on Earth, but she could kill him in Jaha’s place. She had just wanted some sleep and no one liked him anyways. Everyone had claimed there were no rules on this new world; they lied.  
Kae finally spoke up. “What do you plan to do Murphy? Let’s get this over with.”  
Murphy broke his gaze on Charlotte to look at Kae. “She will be hung. Just like everyone did to me. But, no one will save her.”  
Charlotte had other plans. Hanging was not how she wanted to go out. She jumped to her feet while Murphy was still turned towards Kae. She bolted away with all her might. She had planned this.  
Just beyond the trees, in the new morning light, there was a cliff that would take her life instead. Murphy and co ran after her. Just as they rounded the corner, out of the trees, they all watched as Charlotte hurled herself over the edge and tumbled down. She had gone out her own way and no one had won. No sound had escaped her as she met her fate; it was all just over.  
Murphy stood at the cliff’s edge and said nothing. Kae had no idea how to proceed. The guys behind her cussed at Charlotte and complained that all of their work had been for nothing. They called Charlotte a coward and many other names that Kae had stopped listening to.  
Behind them, the leaves rustled and Bellamy and Clarke ran out at them. Bellamy tackled Murphy to the ground. Dust smeared across Murphy’s face and dirt clogged up his nose. His very tender and swollen throat seared. His eyes watered from the impact.  
Clarke had put a knife to Rodriguez’s throat. She shouted for the others to drop their weapons. Neither had appeared to notice Kae’s presence. She either wasn’t a threat or they hadn’t accounted for her. It made Kae sad to see the knives she had made herself be used against her own people. She had made them for slicing and dicing the grounders, not the 100.  
Bellamy growled down at Murphy. “Where is Charlotte? I know you’ve done something to her.”  
Coughing and spitting out dirt, Murphy croaked out, “I didn’t touch her.”  
“I’ll ask you one more time. Then you won’t make it out of the noose again.”  
Murphy stayed silent. Bellamy wasn’t going to like his answer either way.  
In a flash, Bellamy had wrenched Murphy off of the ground and was hauling him over to the trees again. The guys in the group didn’t make a move to save him. The real cowards. While Clarke didn’t seem pleased with this turn of events, she was ready to let it happen.  
Kae broke the invisibility of her presence. She screamed out for Bellamy to let him go.  
Bellamy paused and Clarke spun around to see her standing there with knife in hand.  
“I said, let him go.”  
“Kae, what are you doing? He killed Charlotte!” Bellamy had seemed so sure of himself.  
“He never laid a hand on her. She jumped off the cliff before we could reach her.”  
“You were a part of this Kae?” Clarke seemed taken aback by Kae’s use of “we”.  
“I chose to be here with Murphy and he did not kill Charlotte. So let him go.”  
“I expected better from you. These guys are not good people Kae.” Bellamy still hadn’t released him.  
“We are all here because we did wrong, remember. None of us are innocent and you still haven’t let him go.”  
Bellamy loosened his grip a bit. “Did you see Charlotte jump?”  
“Yes.”  
“We can’t just let him go Kae. He had murderous intentions.” Clarke’s statement caused Bellamy to tighten his grip again. Murphy seemed to have some trouble breathing under his intense pressure.  
“Then punish him. But don’t kill him.”  
“She is right Bell.”  
Finally, Bellamy released Murphy completely. Murphy fell to the ground, grasping at his sides. Kae began to walk toward him, but Bellamy warned her to stop.  
“I don’t know why you are helping him. You can still make the right choice here.” Bellamy thought for a moment, deciding what to do with the traitor. “We will banish him as punishment. You are all free to join him or return to camp.” He looked sternly into her eyes and then looked in disgust toward Travis, Nate, and Rodriguez. Banishment was practically a death sentence.  
Clarke released her knife and the three boys eyed each other looking for what to do. Finally, they all stepped toward Bellamy and Travis spoke up. “We will go back to camp with you. I like my life.”  
Kae couldn’t believe how easily their loyalty could be swayed. Clarke turned toward her with eyes that plead for her to join them and go home. Kae kept her eyes trained on Murphy; she had already decided what she wanted to do.  
“I will stay here with Murphy.” She knew if she stayed she was likely going to die, but fuck, it was something to do.  
Murphy eyed Kae with utter bewilderment. Why in the hell was she staying with him? She had no obligation to stay and he sure as hell wasn’t very likeable. Even still, it was a relief that he wasn’t going to be alone this time.  
Clarke stared at Kae, looking for an answer as to why she would give her life for John Murphy, a complete screw up of a human. She wanted her to come back with her and Bell; not stay out in this would-be-purgatory. She would rather her than the three guys that had so easily decided to abandon their friend. She had been a good worker and losing her would hurt their weapon production.  
“Let’s go Clarke; we need to get back.” Bellamy had already started in the direction of camp, not waiting for Clarke to catch up. Slowly, Clarke took her gaze off of Kae and whispered a small vow.  
“May we meet again.”


	3. My Tired Ass is a Lazy Ass

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kae confuses Murphy even more.

Murphy had not yet pealed himself off of the ground. He was laying there taking in this turn of events, too tired to start another day.   
The ground looked like a very inviting place to take a nap to Kae as well. She plopped down onto the hard earth and rolled onto her back. She let her eyes shut and felt the warmth from the morning sun seep over her exhausted body. Her oily and dirt coated hair caught the breeze and twirled across her face. She could feel the cool breeze sweep over her skin and draw attention to the holes that had grown in her shirt. All the earth was quiet as if their lives had not just taken a turn for the worst and Charlotte’s body wasn’t lying in ruins below them.   
She could hear Murphy’s boots slide across the loose pebbles and then his deep sigh as he hoisted himself off the wonderful ground. Kae was not ready to do the same; rest seemed so much more important than moving anywhere.   
Murphy shuffled his feet in her direction and stood over where she was laying. He cast a shadow on her face so the sun’s warmth no longer reached her. Even without opening her eyes, she knew he was giving her a look that said to get off her tired ass. But her tired ass was a stubborn ass that didn’t want to move.   
“Kae, we need to get moving. We’re in the open here; grounders can easily spot us.”  
Kae figured if she stayed down she might look dead to a grounder who passed by. Don’t mind the dead body, just keep moving…  
“Kae…” His impatience was growing.  
Reluctantly, she opened her eyes, squinting in the ever intensifying daylight. Her eyes met with his boots first and then traveled up his legs, onto his chest, and finally to his face. He had cuts and bruises doting his chin and cheeks from Bellamy’s attack; his neck looked like it was unbearably painful.   
She didn’t look much better. When she opened her eyes, Murphy gazed down at her and noticed she had cuts on her nose and had new holes ripped into her shirt from the limbs they had trekked through last night. Her hand that had been bandaged by Clarke yesterday morning had not fared well either. The bandage was covered in dirt and blood had soaked its way to the surface. Dark circles lined the bottom of her eyes. This girl had been in hell with him for the past six hours, yet here she was glancing back at him without disgust.   
“Where do you propose we go, Murphy?”  
“On one of my runs with Bellamy, we found an old unused bunker. It had two beds and a lot of supplies.”  
“Sounds good. Do you remember where it was?”  
“Not exactly, but it would seem we have a lot of time on our hands now.”  
Kae closed her eyes for a second more before reaching her arm up towards Murphy to have him pull her up.  
Murphy grabbed her hand and quickly had her on her feet again. She was really light weight; food hadn’t always been in supply lately to keep everyone well nourished. He made a mental note to let her have the first bit of food when they found the bunker.   
They moved into the woods again with absolutely no supplies except one knife each. Where Murphy had gotten another knife, Kae wasn’t sure. She was just glad he had stolen one from somewhere.   
The woods seemed much less ominous than they had last night. However, it was just as hard to maneuver around everything that wanted to trip her up. After walking around for some time, and thankfully not seeing any grounder life, noon arrived and they stopped for a short breather.  
Murphy grabbed a handful of little green pea looking beans off a bush and handed them to her. She had seen these at camp before and knew they weren’t that bad tasting. Anything at this point would taste like a five-star steak dinner she was so hungry.   
They sat in silence and nibbled on the small treats. Murphy took in the scene around them, trying to find something familiar. He had fallen in love with the green tint that Earth seemed to exude. Everything seemed to signify life instead of the dead metal that the Ark flaunted. But, everything seemed to look the same, so he wasn’t sure if they were going in the right direction or not. He really hoped they were though. He did not like the idea of being out here at night again.   
They quickly finished the snack and got up to keep moving forward. Kae followed behind him, trusting that he knew the best direction to take. It was nearly dusk again before Murphy began to finally believe they were close. His speed increased and they quickly made their way East. The sun began to set behind them and cast shadows that danced around them.   
Kae was about to ask for another quick break when Murphy suddenly stopped. His boots scooted leaves and twigs around as he searched for a small handle.   
He looked up at Kae with a grin on his face. This was the first time since they landed that Kae had seen him smile. She walked over to where he was standing and saw a rusty handle poking out from the leaves scattered around. They both reached down and grabbed the handle. It took a lot of strength neither of them had at this point to move the door and crawl inside the pitch black cavern below.   
Kae was the first to step inside. Her eyes could not find any light so she fumbled around searching for a flash light. Murphy let the door slam above them and seal them inside together. Apparently, the last time he had been here with Bellamy they had found an oil lamp with matches and set it by the door. Murphy lit the top of the wick and light flickered across the small room.   
Kae took in what was around her. The bunker had two small cots, a chair in the corner, and a shelf that held dozens of preserved foods, toys, papers, and hygiene supplies. Kae smiled as she saw the toothpaste that littered the bottom shelf. Finally, she could scrub away the grim that coated her teeth.   
Murphy moved to stand beside her and look through the food options. He reached up and grabbed a can that was labeled “mixed vegetables”. He didn’t bother reading the expiration date; it was going to be past and any food found was worthy of eating. Using a small can opener he found, he popped it open and offered it to Kae.   
She was surprised that he had offered her food first. She had expected she would have to fend for herself like always. She took the can and shook some of the contents into her mouth. It wasn’t the best tasting mixture, but it was something that would end the growls her stomach had been releasing. She handed the can back to Murphy who refused to take it from her.  
“You need the food. Eat.”  
“You’re just as hungry as I am. Take some.”  
“I’ll eat later. That can is yours.”  
She decided not to argue with him. She was too tired for that. She sat down with the can on one of the cots and finished it off. She couldn’t remember the last time she was full. Her eyes began to get heavy so she laid down and pulled the blankets around her.   
Murphy did the same in the other cot. He watched her eyes close and reopen as she fought to stay awake just a little longer.   
“Why did you stay with me?”  
Her eyes opened again and a sweet smile played across her lips.  
“You wouldn’t make it out here without me.”  
Murphy knitted his eye brows together as he tried to understand what she meant by that. He was more than capable of handling himself and she had no skills outside the walls.  
“What do you mean, I wouldn’t make it without you? I can handle myself.”  
“You get yourself into trouble day in and day out John Murphy. I am here to help you avoid the shit storms that tend to brew around you.”   
“You want to be part of my shit storms do you?” He raised an eyebrow and let his words hang in the air between them.   
All she gave in reply was a simple “yep” and closed her eyes again.   
This girl frustrated Murphy to no end. He couldn’t predict what she was going to do. Let alone figure out why she did it! He was quiet for a few moments before she spoke again.  
“Your shit storms are my sunny days. Daily life of doing the same thing over and over isn’t life. Never knowing what the end of the day will look like, that is paradise.”  
“Welcome to my land of paradise then.”  
With that, both closed their eyes and breathed in sleep that was long overdue to both of them. Neither of them stirred at all while they slept; their bodies were far too exhausted.


	4. Back to the Good Ole Days

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Murphy shares his story with Kae.

When they woke up again, neither could tell what time it was. It was always dark in the bunker.   
Murphy rolled over and faced the wall. He tried to gather up the courage to move his body that screamed for him not to. Every inch of him hurt and he didn’t want Kae to know.   
He heard her slip out from under her blankets and walk towards the door. Without turning over, he questioned her intentions.  
“Where are you going?”  
“Water and pee break. There was a stream near-by I will get some water from.” And with that, she dashed outside.  
Murphy worried for her while she was gone. What if grounders spotted her and killed her? Murphy couldn’t believe he was actually so concerned about another person. He had given up caring for people long ago. Apparently, this stubborn girl could walk right through all the walls he had barricaded himself behind when his mom died.   
It seemed like forever before the door opened again and she climbed inside. With her was a bowl of water that she set down next to him.  
“Drink some, but not all of it.”  
“Don’t they sell anything better than water in this joint?”  
“Not to people that can’t pay their tabs.”  
“Oh I think we could find a way to settle that tab…” Murphy smirked at Kae as he rolled over to face her. He propped himself onto one elbow and drank some of the water from the bowl. He hadn’t realized how dehydrated he felt. He wanted to finish off the entire bowl, but obeyed her orders not to. The water was cool and clean; not at all like the puddle water they have had to resort to in the past.   
She took the bowl from him and began searching around the bunker for something.  
“What are you looking for?”  
“A cloth or rag…”  
He still wasn’t sure why she needed this, but offered to rip the ends off some of the sheets. She told him to lay back down. She would do it herself.   
As much as he hated not doing it for her, he was thankful that he could continue to avoid moving just a little longer. She tore off some strips of cloth and blotted them in the water.   
Water dripped across the concrete floor as she walked towards him.  
“Hold it right there. What are you doing?”  
“I’m going to clean some of the blood and dirt off your ugly face.”  
“Um…No you’re not. I can take care of that.” His hand reached out toward the still dripping cloth.   
“Don’t be dumb. You can’t see how bad you look. Let me just do it.”  
“Only if you let me fix your face next.”  
“Excuse me? What exactly is wrong with my face?”  
“You think I look bad? You look like you just walked out of a horror movie.”  
Kae glared at him for a moment before relenting.   
“Fine.”  
She sat down on the cot beside where he was laying and dabbed the cloth over the cuts that lined his face. The whole time, his dark eyes watched her face and he didn’t move his face away from her touch.  
The cloth gingerly removed traces of yesterday’s dirt and violence. Small red lines were all that remained to alter his natural features. Most would say he isn’t the most handsome, but his sharp features made him stand out. He had removed the black jacket he normally wears and a tattered black shirt clung to his toned chest.   
Kae placed the cloth back into the bowl. The water was tinted red now. Her hands rested back into her lap and she smirked down at Murphy.   
“That wasn’t so bad was it?”  
Still not taking his eyes off of her he returned her smirk. “No.” It really wasn’t that bad… “It’s your turn.”   
Her smirk faded and she scooted back on the cot a bit. Murphy drug himself into a sitting positon, careful not to twist his neck too much. He reached into the bowl and rung out the cloth so it didn’t drip all over his cot.   
She reached up and pulled her hair away from her face. It was a tossup for Murphy whether her hair or her eyes were her best feature. Her hair was a medium auburn that looked red in the sun. It reached down past her shoulders and landed about half-way down her back. Of course it was a rat’s nest of tangles, but no one was immune to that unfortunate characteristic. Her eyes were a deep shade of blue that was striking against her fair skin.   
He started to dab the cloth against the cuts on her nose first. The cool water caused goosebumps to appear on her arms. She closed her eyes and let him scrub her face gently. This was as close as anyone had gotten to a shower in weeks.   
“It’s practically a spa day…” she murmured mostly to herself.   
Murphy smirked at her remark and claimed to have finished cleaning up her face.   
“Thank you.”  
“Oh, I’m not done.”  
“You cleaned my face didn’t you? You’re done.”  
“Have you looked down recently? Your stomach took quite the beating last night when you stumbled your way through the branches. It wasn’t pretty to watch.”  
She wasn’t about to let him near her stomach, cut up or not. They only really met yesterday you know!  
Kae stood up and walked two steps over to her cot. She plopped down and drew the blankets around her to deter his pursuit.   
“Fine. Then let me change the bandage on your hand.”  
That she couldn’t argue, so she held out her bloody hand to him. He stood up and maneuvered to her cot. She could see that movement was not going to be fun for him anytime soon.   
He pulled the old bandage away and used the bowl again to clean up the cut. Using a piece of cloth she had already stripped off earlier, he fastened a new bandage around her hand and wrist. She expected that he would return back to his cot, but he just sat there looking at her.   
“You know you need me to help you with those cuts across your stomach and back.”   
“You’ve done enough.”  
“Do you think I’m going to hurt you?” Murphy looked genuinely upset now.   
“No! It’s just that I can do this myself.” They were both letting their pride get the best of them.   
Kae reached for the bowl, but Murphy went for it at the same time. Their hands hit the side of it and the rest of the blood stained water spilled across the floor. The bowl clanged as it hit and rolled under the shelf.   
“I’m tired.” Kae rolled back down onto her cot, avoiding where Murphy still sat, and closed her eyes.   
Murphy sat there silent for a while, angry at himself and her. She was acting ridiculous. He just had wanted to help her out; again, he wasn’t sure why it mattered. But it did.   
“I’m sorry I upset you, your highness.” Murphy carefully stood back up and walked towards the exit, putting his jacket on as he walked.   
“I’m going to take a piss.”  
Kae heard the door shut behind him. Why had she freaked out so much? She hates feeling cornered into a situation and she hadn’t seen a way out with a happy ending. She pulled herself off the cot and crouched down onto her stomach to reach under the shelf. Her hands barely reached the edge of the bowl.   
When she pulled it out, she felt a small piece of paper hidden away under the shelf as well. She sat with her back against the wall and stared at the small photo she had retrieved. A woman was holding a small baby, looking into its eyes with complete admiration. Nothing else in the world could have been as important as the bundle in her arms; even the end of the world. Kae knew she had never made it to the bunker. Even if they had, they would not have survived long enough. She wondered if a husband had snapped the photo.   
The photo had completely mesmerized Kae. There were so many stories that could have gone along with the woman and child in the photo. No one would ever know what really happened though. She turned it over and on the back was the name “Thalia” written in a wavy cursive.   
The door creaked open again and Murphy scrambled back inside. He looked surprised that Kae was not still hiding away on her cot. He sat down next to her on the floor, back against the wall.   
“What’s that?”  
“I found this photo under the shelf.”  
“Looks like they never made it.”  
“No…”  
The awkwardness from earlier drifted away as they gazed at the long-gone-family.   
“Murphy, how did you end up down here? You said you had already killed before.”  
He knew that question was coming sooner or later. It wasn’t something he liked to share. People looked at him differently once they knew.  
“You’ll will want to leave once you know.”  
“I doubt that. I’ve had my fair share of bad choices.”  
“I don’t regret what I did, Kae. That’s the difference.”  
“Who said I regretted mine? I’m not going to judge you. I just want to know so that there aren’t any more surprises. I think we are stuck with each other for a while.”  
Murphy sat silently for a few moments before offering the explanation. “When I was younger, I was really sick. My father was desperate to get me the medicine I needed, but he would be breaking the law. He was caught and floated within 24 hours. My mother drank herself to death soon after. She couldn’t live with what had happened to him, the love of her life. People blame me for their deaths. If I had been a better son, this wouldn’t have happened they say. Later on, I found the people that had turned in my father and locked them in a room. Fire in space is a lot different than it is here. It didn’t take long for them all to burn.”  
“You are not responsible for your parents’ deaths.”  
“Ya… Well, the people who were responsible got what was coming to them.”  
Kae sat there and watched the emotions play across his face. They changed from anger, to sadness, and back to anger in a matter of moments. His life was pretty messed up; that much was obvious. She could relate.   
She leaned her head against his shoulder. She wasn’t very good at the whole comforting people in their time of need sort of thing. This was all she could think to do.   
Murphy stiffened when she rested her head on his shoulder. This girl- always full of surprises. Most people would have taken off and said “see ya!” the moment he confessed to burning people alive. He had gotten used to that response. But no, this time someone hadn’t run away, she had gotten closer. Why was she so cool with this?   
Murphy let her stay as she was and eventually relaxed. He even realized he liked having her there. He rested his head on top of hers. In the past, most girls he had dated didn’t stick around long. He would sleep with them and move on; no real attachment. That was always how he wanted things to go. His rude comments or anger would drive them away fast enough.   
Kae sat there breathing in his warmth and smell. On the outside, all seemed right with the world for once. On the inside, she was spinning. Hearing his story had brought back memories of her own life. She wasn’t ready for him to look at her the way everyone else did when they discovered her secret, why she was convicted. She tried to choke down the emotions that were boiling up inside her. It had all been an accident.   
Damn, her emotions revealed themselves. Tears were silently slipping down her cheeks and doted the concrete. Murphy hadn’t seemed to notice so she tried to stop the flow and discreetly wipe away the remnants.   
The dots lining the floor around her eventually did give it all away. “Are you crying?” Murphy looked worried. Had his story scared her off after all?   
“You weren’t supposed to see that.”  
He started to get off the floor, but Kae grabbed the arm of his jacket and pulled him back down.  
“Stay. It isn’t anything you said.”  
Murphy stopped trying to get up and waited for her to explain.   
“I don’t like to tell people my story either. Yours just caused me to think of my own conviction again.”  
“Yours can’t be worse than killing people by fire.”  
Kae looked up at him in a way that told him, it could be worse.   
“You know… I shared my story so it’s only fair you share yours now. Why are you down here Kae?”  
She took a second to steady herself. She leaned into him for support as she prepared to relive the worst day of her life. Even banishment didn’t compare to the grief she felt the day she was sentenced to life imprisonment. Being down here was a freedom she never expected to get. Talking to someone, anyone, ever again was not a privilege she believed she would get. But had she learned anything from all of this. No. She was right back to looking for trouble.


	5. Little Sister (Sorta)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kae shares her story with Murphy. (if you're a crier, have tissues)

[8 MONTHS AGO]  
“Kae come on! It will be fun. We will be in and out before anyone notices! Besides, Grant has planned it all out. None of the guards will be around.”   
“I know, I know! I’m just nervous! I can’t believe Grant is doing this for us!”  
“You mean he is doing it for you! He fell for you hard girl! You could ask him anything and he would do it for you.”  
Blushing, Kae smiled down at Avery; Grant would do anything for her. Kae and Avery shared birthdays and Thursday was the big day. Kae would turn 18 and Avery would be 12. On the Ark, families could only have one child, but Avery was practically her little sister. They did everything together!   
Avery was still short and lanky. Her blonde hair was always done up in pig tails and no matter the day, there was pink on her somewhere. She was the very picture of innocence in Kae’s mind with the exception of the cookies they stole from the mess hall.   
Kae and Avery both dreamed of a day when they wouldn’t be trapped in the cold metal cabins of the Ark. For years, both had laughed that if they ever got to float in space, they would jam to their favorite songs while hanging suspended in zero gravity. It would look ridiculous!  
A knock came at Kae’s bedroom door. Grant stuck his head in, covering his eyes with his hand.   
“Everyone descent?”   
“Would it matter if we weren’t? You would come in anyways!” Kae jumped off her bed and pulled him inside the room.   
Grant pulled her against his chest and dove in for a hard kiss. His hands started to slide down her sides and rest on the small of her back. His fingertips played with the bottom edge of her lilac shirt.   
“EW! You are disgusting!” Avery made gagging noises but had a smile on her face. She had just entered the “boys stage” of her life, much to Kae’s dismay. She was growing up too much!  
Kae pulled away from Grant and lead him over to the chairs in the room where they both plopped down.   
“So you girls ready for this?” Grant had a big smile playing across his face. His eyes were lit with a mischievous excitement.  
“Born ready!” Avery jumped on the bed doing a little dance.   
Butterflies still fluttered in Kae’s stomach at the thought of what they were all planning to do in a few minutes. Today was to celebrate their birthdays together. Grant had already given Kae a celebration together just the two of them last night. They had stolen dinner from the mess hall and slipped into his quarters. Grant was two years older, so he already had his own place. They had sat on the floor and ate the subpar meal in silence as they watched some corny movies playing on the television. At some point they had stopped watching the show and were completely engrossed in one another. It had started as innocent kisses that Grant had placed onto her check and then down her neck. Her hands found their way under his shirt and traced the fine lines that hard work in maintenance had formed.   
Grant lifted her onto his lap and his hands ran down her back to the bottom of her shirt. He lifted it up and off of her small form to reveal the one lacy bra she owned. He removed his own shirt and pressed soft kissed down her chest and onto her stomach. Goosebumps sprinkled themselves across her arms and down her legs.   
As her hands fumbled with the zipper on his pants, his fingers rubbed the side of her bra and played with the straps. He lifted her off the ground and placed her on the bed then slipped off his pants. She rolled onto her back and let him crawl on top of her. Her hands pulled him closer to her and ran them along his back. He tugged at her skirt until it joined her shirt on the floor.   
Her breathing became heavier and more difficult to control as she was overcome with a desire to let him be closer than ever before to her. He slowly made his way down until she could feel his warm breath on her thighs. Her toes curled into the blankets. Both his and her underwear fell to the side. She unclipped the back of her bra and let if fall away as well.   
She had never felt more free and reckless before. That night, she had told Grant she loved him. To her relief, he loved her back.   
The next morning, Grant gave her a necklace that had a small gold pennant of a star. It had a note that explained what he had planned for the joint party for her and Avery later. Kae couldn’t believe he was willing to do this for Avery. Grant was everything Kae found attractive in a guy. He was tall, had dark hair, and was willing to step over the lines now and again for a good time.   
“Ready to go Kae? It’s now or never!” Grant eyed her knowing full well where her mind had wondered off to.   
“Let’s do this!”  
The three of them left her quarters and traveled down the narrow hallways. Kae kept looking over her shoulder for anyone who might realize they shouldn’t be there. No one passed by. Good ole Grant really had out done himself.   
Avery was practically bouncing down the hall and continued to do so when they reached the door. Her pig tails whipped around with all her energy and excitement. Grant pulled out his ID card and swept it along the key pad. The locked door slid open and he ushered them all inside. He looked very pleased with himself for having gotten this far.   
Space suits lined up against the right wall. A large and very thick metal door in front of them blinked WARNING over and over. Grant went over to a large control panel and began to press a slew of buttons that seemed like gibberish to Kae. Minutes ticked by and Kae began to panic that they would be caught. Avery on the other hand was still bouncing around.   
Finally, Grant turned around to her. “Go pick out a suit, space dancer.”  
Kae couldn’t help the large smile that pulled across her face. She practically began to bounce like Avery as she found a suit for herself. Grant helped Avery into a suit as well. Kae felt like a heavy balloon once the suit was properly secured to her; walking was hilariously impossible. She and Avery tottered over to the large door and secured themselves to the thick white tether.   
Grant went back to pressing buttons and the door slid open in front of them. Beeping blared around them and wisps of air pushed them back. Turning to look at Grant one more time before stepping forward, she fully believed she was the luckiest girl alive.   
She and Avery walked into the next chamber and the door slid shut behind them. No turning back now Kae thought to herself.   
“Check, Check… Can you hear me girls?”  
“We read you loud and clear commander Grant!” Avery’s big eyes peered out of her mask at Kae. Her pig tails were smushed against the side of the helmet. How she could hear anything, Kae had no idea.   
Music began to play across the head phones and the doors pushed open. Kae and Avery both floated off of their feet and out into the stars.   
Kae marveled at the sights around her. The stars against the immense black was more gorgeous than she had ever seen. She turned her head to look at Avery who was already dancing. It was as they had always thought, dancing in zero gravity was hilarious! She joined in and both girls laughed at each other.   
Tears streamed down Kae’s face she was laughing so hard. She figured they couldn’t stay out here much longer; time had to be running out. She didn’t want to bother Avery though so she simply watched her would-be-little-sister twist and turn in the darkness.   
The thing about space is that there isn’t any air for sound to travel through. Even catastrophe is silent.   
Inside, authorities had found Grant. They had walked in to the control area and knocked him to the ground. Hand cuffs cut into the sides of his wrists and the guards went to work on the buttons.   
Kae and Avery didn’t know what was happening inside. The music was jamming and Avery turned and twisted. The hook that tethered Avery to the Ark wasn’t in a dancing mood apparently and split in two. Kae noticed quickly and started to move toward where she was floating away.   
In the same moment, the doors rushed open and air spilled out towards them. Avery was hit in the chest with the rush of air and went flying out. Kae was still tethered so she simply reached the end of her line and came to a stop.   
Panic washed over Kae as she realized what had happened. When she looked to where Avery had been, she was nowhere to be seen. She searched the stars for her little Avery, but once she was found she was already too far out to reach.   
The tether began to pull Kae inside, away from the girl she loved so dearly. Kae screamed and screamed for them to stop. She had to go save Avery! She fought against the line and tears raced down her face. Screams continued to pour out of her mouth. Her body felt useless. The guards tackled her to the ground when she was inside. The doors slid shut with a deafening clang.   
Completely disoriented and overwhelmed with panic, Kae’s helmet was removed. Screams still echoed around the small room. She could see Grant being led away as he fought to get to her. She could hear him yelling out her name, but the guards pulled him out the door and into the hallway. This was the last time she would see him.  
Handcuffs found their way onto her wrists and her body was wrenched up and out of the room. Kae continued to scream and scream as she was led down the hallway. She could still hear the music playing from the control room, hers and Avery’s dance music.   
She waited in a room alone for two days before she was convicted of murder and wasting supplies. She was held responsible for Avery’s death. Grant was convicted of murder as well. Being over 18 years of age, he was sentenced to death. Any crime after the age of 18 meant death.   
Three days later, Grant was floated. Kae considered herself responsible for his death as well. She had two murders on her hands. Her birthday and Avery’s birthday came and went. Avery never reached 12.


	6. Shattered

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a rather short chapter, but is a big step in the development of Kae and Murphy's understanding of each other.

When she had finished her story, Murphy’s eyes didn’t turn away from hers. His arms wrapped around her and pulled her into his chest. She thought she would cry again, but she didn’t. She buried her face into his jacket and shirt and just breathed. She didn’t deserve to be out of the Ark’s cell. She didn’t deserve to be comforted like this. She had killed her little sister.   
Murphy let her be held and didn’t say anything for a long time.  
When he finally did speak again, she could feel the vibrations from his voice as her head rested on his chest.   
“You didn’t kill Avery or Grant, Kae. Jaha and his guards did that. You need to forgive yourself.”  
Kae didn’t move away from his chest. Her hands held onto the sides of his jacket and she didn’t want him to pull away from her. Everyone had always blamed her for their death so eventually she had too.   
Murphy pulled her off of him and stood up off of the hard floor. She panicked that he was going to leave. Instead, he reached down and lifted her off of the floor. Her eyes must have revealed her surprise, because he laughed a little.   
With her in his arms he walked over to his cot and set her down. He then went over the food shelf and grabbed a can. Once it was open, he returned to where she was. This time, he didn’t hand her all of the food. He set it down next to the cot and climbed in beside to her. He hunkered down and pulled her close. Her back was pressed up against his chest and her legs rested next to his. He reached down to the can again and spooned some of the contents into his mouth before offering her some.   
They stayed like that, sharing food and laying on the bed together, until they both fell asleep and her heart stopped feeling like it was shattered all over again.


	7. So...We're Both Murderers, huh?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kae and Murphy eat.

This time, Murphy was the first one awake. His arm was still wrapped around Kae’s waist and he could hear her lightly snoring. Careful not to wake her up, he shifted his weight and sat up behind her. Looking down at her still asleep, he noticed that she was drooling onto his pillow. In a way it was kind of cute and endearing.   
He sat there for a while trying to figure out what to do with their day. He needed to come up with something that would keep her busy and not thinking about Avery or Grant. She seemed to feel worse about Avery. He wondered if she had moved on from Grant or not. Obviously, she hadn’t been with anyone since.   
Her snoring had stopped so he looked back down at her. Her blue eyes were open and she had turned to face him. A sleepy smile was on her face.   
“Good morning your highness.”  
“Mmmmm…” She apparently wasn’t much of a talker in the morning, but at least she was still smiling at him.   
Murphy went to get off of the cot. Somewhat on purpose, he simply rolled over her and smushed her into the blankets. He could hear a very muffled “get off” as he took his time to get up.   
When he reached down to grab his shoes that he had removed during the night, she whisked the pillow out from under her head and whacked him with it. He lost balance and plopped down onto the floor.   
“Oh! So that’s how it’s going to be huh?” Murphy’s face looked more mischievous than ever. Kae was almost worried, but enjoyed the challenge.   
She hid her face under the blankets when he got back up and started towards her. She suddenly felt his arms wrap around her and the blankets and lift her off the cot. He half dragged her, half carried her, blankets and all across the bunker and to the door. She squirmed under the blanket, but couldn’t free her hands.  
“Let me go!” she playfully yelled out at him from under the blanket cocoon.   
“Nope!” He had opened the door now and drug her out into the bright sun light. She hadn’t been outside in a while so any light was blinding. She blessed the blankets for shielding her eyes now!  
Suddenly, he dropped her like a bag of potatoes and took off running. Kae wiggled her way out from the bundle and landed onto the dry leaves. The cool air came as a shock to her skin. She didn’t even have her shoes on.   
She scrambled to her feet and began to look around for Murphy’s dumb ass. She called out his name a few times and spun around where she was standing, hoping he hadn’t gone far.   
Kae felt hands wrap around her from behind and she fell with a thud to the ground on top of someone. A weak scream escaped her from the surprise attack. Murphy’s laughter rang in her ear after he recovered from padding her fall. She rolled off of him and jokingly punched him in the arm.   
“God! You gave me a heart attack Murphy!” His laughter was contagious though so she was cracking a smile as she tried to sound serious.   
Murphy sat up and picked a few leaves out of her hair. Kae stood up and returned the blanket to the cot inside and retrieved her shoes. When she came back out, Murphy was waiting patiently for her.   
“Your neck seems to have begun healing nicely…” Kae had walked over to him and gently ran her fingers along the fading marks on this neck line. “Do you have something in mind for today?” She didn’t want to bring up yesterday just yet.   
“I don’t know about you, but I could use something a little more delicious and nutritious than old canned vegetables and beans.”  
“Same. I hear there is a really nice burger joint just around the block…”  
Murphy rolled his eyes at her sarcasm. “As nice as that sounds highness, I bet we could find something a little more fresh around here.”   
Kae had never hunted for food before. It was always provided for her. But she was game to learn!  
“Okay…what do we do first?”  
Murphy grabbed her left arm and pulled her towards a denser part of the woods. Murphy kept looking up into the trees. Kae didn’t know what he hoped to find up there. Were they having chipmunk?  
Not far into their walk, Murphy stopped at a tree. It had several low branches that lead up to a very tall peak. Dropping her arm, he pointed up the length of the tree and explained that there was a large bird’s nest tucked into a branch about half way up.   
Kae tried to follow his gaze, but didn’t see anything. “You sure?”  
“Yes. It’s there. That nest probably has some eggs we could scramble later…”  
Kae set her mind to climbing the tree; she could do this. She wandered over to the trunk and reached up for the lowest branch. She grabbed on and swung her legs up and looped them around another branch.   
Using all of her arm strength, she pulled herself into a sitting positon and then a standing position. Below her, she could see Murphy giving her a thumbs up. She continued to reach, grab, swing her legs, sit, stand, and pull herself higher and higher.   
At this point, she didn’t dare look back down. She just focused on finding the nest. Finally, when she figured she couldn’t go much higher and survive, she spotted the nest. She shifted her weight carefully from one foot to the next as she scooted over to the nook the nest was wedged in. Her hands held onto branches around her.   
The nest was fairly large. No doubt the mom and dad birdies would not be pleasant to meet. The nest was made out of the pine needles from the tree and other tree scraps. White feathers had caught on some of the sharp edges and were left to flutter in the breeze.   
Inside, only two large white and brown speckled eggs rested. Now came the part she hadn’t thought through. How was she going to safely carry these two breakable eggs back down the tree? She didn’t want to climb another tree later so she would need to make this one count.   
A bag would be great right about now. But oh wait…they didn’t have any supplies. She decided to get resourceful. She carefully removed her hands from the limb she was clinging to and reached for her shirt. Leaning onto the trunk of the tree, she slid her shirt up and over her head. Thank god for sports bras.   
She grabbed up the two eggs and wrapped them in her shirt. Using the two sleeves and the corners she tied it to her belt loops. The eggs seemed as secure as they were going to get.   
She started to carefully wind her way back down the tree in much of the same fashion as she used to climb up it. She would lower her legs to another branch, reach down, stand, sit, lower her legs, and so forth. She had just reached the lowest branch when one of the eggs found their way to one of the holes in her shirt. “Shit.”  
The egg tumbled out towards the ground. Kae reached for the egg, but was not fast enough to grab it. Below her, Murphy reached up and caught the egg. The egg remained in tack as it reached his hand. Relief washing over her, Kae finished lowering herself to the ground and pulled the other egg out from the make shift t-shirt bag.   
“You should dress like this all the time.” Murphy winked at her and took the other egg from her.   
“Maybe if it was about 20 degrees warmer…or if you were dreaming.” Kae slipped her ragged shirt back over her cold stomach and started back toward the bunker. “I thought you had something much more ‘hunt’ like planned for us.”  
“Do you know how to take down a deer with just a knife? If you do, I would love to see it sometime.”  
“I can actually take down an entire fleet of deer only using this one knife! I’ll show you the next time we run into one.”  
Murphy raised an eyebrow at her. “We might just survive out here with those skills.”  
It was easy to forget that life was not good for them right now; that this wasn’t just some vacation. They couldn’t go home, didn’t have a home. Murphy was all she had. And two eggs.   
It was still day time so they didn’t worry about light from a campfire pulling too much attention. They tried to find limbs, sticks, and leaves that wouldn’t create too much smoke and then did a lot of praying that this wouldn’t be their last meal.  
Using a metal plate the bunker had, Murphy cracked the two eggs into it and placed it over the fire. Kae continued to gather more sticks to keep the fire at a good level. Creating the fire had taken some time. Neither of them were yet very skilled at the process. Both understood the general concept, but actually implementing it had been a struggle. Kae had let out a small cheer and Murphy a satisfying “wooo!” when the flame finally took hold. High fives had been exchanged.   
Eggs only take a matter of seconds to cook. Murphy, the idiot, had reached and grabbed the plate with his bare hands and nearly burned himself. Food will make people do stupid things. Manners were long gone so both dug into the eggs and scarfed them down faster than they had taken to cook.   
Murphy rolled onto his back and grabbed the now empty plate. Jokingly, he began to lick it like he was looking for any final traces of the deliciousness they had thoroughly enjoyed. Loving weird stuff like that, Kae began to laugh. He kept licking it so Kae continued to laugh until her sides hurt and her eyes had filled with tears.   
Both had laid down on their backs now. The fire still flickered in the sunlight and cast a warmth over them. After Kae had stopped laughing, they both stayed there quiet for a moment. But yesterday’s stories were tugging at both of their minds once more.   
“So…we’re both murderers huh?” Murphy meant it as a joke, but it stung either way.   
“I’m sorry that happened. Life is fucked up sometimes.”  
“I’m sorry your life is fucked up too.”  
“How did you and Grant meet?”  
“It wasn’t anything special. We had a mutual friend who set us up. We ate meals together for a while and things just felt right. I loved all the stupid ideas we came up with together. I don’t know if I will ever stop missing him, but he seems to have left my life ages ago. Life before the cell and Earth seems like a different lifetime all together.”   
Murphy knew what she meant. Life before Earth, life with his parents, was a lifetime ago. He wondered how much longer he would be able to remember the sound of their voice or even what they looked like. He had been far too young when they died. “You said you had loved him. Do you think you will ever fall for someone else like that?” He was starting to realize just how much he cared for her.   
“With the right person. I might. Like I said, he was an entirely different lifetime.”


	8. Waiting Downstream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So things really heat up between Kae and Murphy at this point. If you are not ready for why this story is rated "mature", prepare yourself...

With the rest of their day, they inventoried the bunker. They took their time and made sure they hadn’t missed anything. Around the time that evening was closing in, they took the short walk to the stream they had been getting water from. Both were in desperate need of clean clothes. They had planned to wash up in the stream.   
When they got there, each walked some distance from each other for modesty sake. Kae went up stream and he went down.   
She knew the water was going to be freezing, but also knew it would be worth it. The plan was to undress, wash the clothes, wash themselves off, put on the very wet clothes and go back to the bunker where they would undress again, but hide under the blankets so their clothes could dry overnight. A sound plan, right?  
Kae began to undress. She laid her boots to the side and took off her shirt for the second time that day. She removed her socks, her pants, her bra, and finally her panties. Kneeling on the side of the stream, she dipped her clothes into the water. It was even colder than she expected. One piece of clothing at a time, she scrubbed them with the rocks and set them aside.   
It was time to wash herself off. Joy. She dipped one toe into the rushing water and choked back a squeal. Gritting her teeth that had already begun chattering, she stepped further into the stream. Freezing water lapped around her, washing off weeks of dirt. She leaned back and let her hair flow with the water. She didn’t have any soap, but she scrubbed at her hair and worked on the knots.   
She had done the deed and was ready to get out and pull her dripping clothes back on. As she turned to walk out of the stream, her foot slipped on a mossy rock and she plopped into the icy water. Involuntarily, she let out a yelp as she fell and some inhuman sounds when she came up out of the water.   
She scampered out and tried to calm her racing heart. She heard running footsteps coming her way. She jumped up and ran behind a tree to hide. Murphy came running up the bank, wearing only his pants. His hair was dripping across his face and his eyes looked panicked.   
“Kae! Where are you?!”  
“What are you doing here! You’re supposed to wait downstream!”  
“I heard you yell. Are you okay? Where are you?”  
“I’m behind the tree, butt naked! I’m fine. I just slipped and fell is all.”   
“Let me get you your clothes.”  
“No, no! I’m fine, just head back now.”  
“I’m not walking all the way back. I’ll just turn away. Look.” He turned his back to her and began to wring out the shirt he had in his hand.   
Kae decided she trusted him and inched her way out from behind the tree. She tip-toed over to her waiting clothes and tugged them back on. She didn’t bother putting on her shirt. He had already seen that number and he didn’t have his on either. Might as well join the party.   
She walked over to where he was standing with his back to her and grabbed his arm. “Take me home.”  
Neither of them could wait to remove their icy, wet clothes once they closed the door to the bunker.   
Both were so cold they didn’t even bother to ask the other to turn away. Both were focused on getting under the blankets. They laid their clothes out so they could dry more or less overnight. Kae sat on her cot and allowed herself to warm up under the blanket, but was still really cold. Murphy, with his blanket pulled around himself, sat down next to her. He pulled one arm out from under the blanket and put it around her shoulders. Rubbing it up and down on her arm gave her a bit more warmth. She leaned her wet head onto his shoulder. Her hair dripped slightly behind them.  
This seemed right. Her world was alright for once. With her head so close to his chest, she could hear that his heart was beating rather rapidly.  
“What are you thinking about?”  
“What will happen when the grounders find us.”  
“You don’t know that they will.”  
He turned his face to look at her in the eyes. “Someday, they will find us. Its inevitable out here. And I don’t want to know what they would do to you.” Man, had he really just said that? Had he just blatantly admitted he had feelings for her. He had a lot of feelings for her.   
Now, her heart rate sped up as well. She stared at him in the eyes; he had just admitted he cared for her in a way. She reached her own hand out of the blanket and rested it on his cheek. Her thumb moved softly back and forth. In the same moment, neither of them could stand it any longer. Murphy leaned into her and their lips meet. The kiss was slow at first, but increased in intensity. Their hearts raced. He pulled her into his full embrace and let her fall on top of him as he lay down.   
Her legs straddled his hips and she pulled herself as close to him as she could. His hands were on her back and held her tight against him. Neither of their blankets separated the two of them any longer. Her hands reached up and ran through his still wet hair.   
Murphy’s lips found their way onto her neck and then onto her collarbone. His hands slid up her sides and rested on her breasts. Kae felt that she could hardly breath; every nerve in her body seemed to tingle with each touch. His kisses traveled back up to her lips and their hips met again. She sucked in a sharp breath as he slid into her. Her hands raced down to rest on his chest. Her toes splayed under the blankets now long forgotten. His own hands reached down and grabbed her thighs as he pulled out again and she pulled herself to him.   
A moan of pleasure escaped his lips as he reached his face forward to kiss her more. He rolled her over to be under him and she felt the pressure of his body weigh on her. Any cold that hung in the air was long gone. She arched her back as he slid into her again and again. Her hands slid down his back onto his ass.   
Her eyes closed in complete and utter pleasure. They had finally found paradise in their fucked up lives.


	9. Trespassers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is from a new perspective and introduces some not so good things.

She had been waiting all night for them to appear. Everything in her wished she could just handle the situation and move on with duties. These two were lazier than even the oldest man in the village; she wondered if they would ever crawl out again.   
She was worth more to the clan than sitting in the trees day in and day out. To do what? Watch these trespassers? The Commander wanted to make sure no others planned to join them. Not that an attack would do much. They would all be slaughtered the moment they stepped in their direction.   
The sun was already well up in the sky when the two Skycru finally came back out. One, the male, seemed to be wrestling the female out of the bunker. He had her wrapped in a blanket. She couldn’t believe how incredibly stupid these people were.   
She continued to watch as they got up and walked into the forest. She would come back later when they returned. For now, they still seemed to be the only two around. She jumped down from the tree and traveled back to the clan to report. She hoped the Commander would give her the go to take them out soon.


	10. Routine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bunker and Chill?

Kae crawled out from under the blankets and pulled her clothes and boots back on. Trying to make as little noise as possible, she quietly shut the squeaky door behind her as she stepped outside. The air was beginning to get warmer in the mornings so she didn’t need to steal Murphy’s jacket anymore.   
She shuffled over towards the stream and filled a bowl with water for the day. Kae set the bowl down and found a thick pile of brush to pee behind. Boy did she miss the days of toilets and toilet paper. That was living life in luxury. She pulled her pants back up to her hips and let her hands run in the stream. This was partly to “wash up” after peeing and partly because the cold water helped her wake up.   
As she walked back to the bunker, she could see Murphy poke his head out the door. His face had a bored, sleepy look as he practically crawled outside.   
“Morning!” She started to walk inside with the bowl of water, but he held out his arm to block her path.  
He pointed toward the bowl and she handed it over to him. Lifting it to his lips, he drank in several large gulps. Water sloshed over the sides and dripped onto his shirt. When he had finished, he handed back to her and she was now allowed to put it inside.   
Murphy took in the morning’s warmth and stretched his hands toward the sky, trying to wake up. There wasn’t anything special to do each day so getting up was whenever they felt like it. A few weeks ago, they had decided to dismantle the cots and lay the padding on the floor together. It wasn’t super comfy, but at least they had an area they could share at night.   
Kae wandered back out to where he was and came to stand in front of him. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pressed his face into her neck.   
In some ways, they had fallen into a routine. Wake up, get water, walk around for a while, eat something, sit around talking about days on the Ark, find something in the bunker to wash or move, and talk about how much they wanted to go somewhere else. They had no idea where else they could go though.   
They had made some bags that held food, water canisters, and some small knives that Kae had made from bunker scrap. If they knew where to go, they were ready more or less. Both had gotten comfortable living here. Neither had seen any grounders so they were letting their guard down.   
Now that it was warmer, they enjoyed bathing in the stream regularly. Summer months were creeping up on them and their winter clothes didn’t fit the bill anymore. Murphy’s jacket was tucked into one of the bags and their pant legs were usually rolled up as much as possible.   
Kae had gotten faster at climbing trees for eggs and they had found a part of the stream that didn’t run as fast that held large quantities of fish. Usually, they could only catch one or two fish and it took forever. Once it was cooked though… fish was the nectar from the gods.   
Even with all this exciting stuff to do day in and day out, they mostly spent their time inside with each other.   
“What do you think everyone back at camp is doing these days?” Kae turned around to face Murphy.  
“The grounders probably killed them all.”  
“That’s awful!” Kae pasted a shocked look on her face.   
“Well they haven’t been here killing us, so they must have their hands full with camp.” Murphy said it in a way that sounded more like a joke than a serious comment.  
“Always so pessimistic. I should go and visit camp someday. I don’t think that I am technically banished. That was all you. I just stuck around with your sorry ass.”   
“Um. I think you signed up for the banishment ship when you decided to stay.”  
“Clarke might let me back in if she is still alive…”  
“Is this your way of saying you want to leave our cozy home?”  
“Nah.” She smiled up at him with innocent eyes. “I just wonder if we will ever cross paths again. I do miss some of those people from time to time.”  
“I don’t.”  
“Yes you do. You miss Nate and Rodriguez. They may have left, but they were your friends.”  
“No. They stopped being friends the moment they left us” A scowl had formed on Murphy’s face. He had begun to pace a little next to her as he always did when he talked about something that unsettled him.   
“You can’t blame them for leaving. Far as they knew, we were all going to die out here.”  
“You didn’t leave and you hardly knew me!”  
“Ya and that was really dumb on my part. But it worked out and I wouldn’t change my decision.” Kae had started to scowl too.   
Murphy decided it was time to change the subject. He didn’t want to fight over this.   
“I think tomorrow is the day.”  
“The day for what?” Her scowl was still on her face.   
“To leave here and go somewhere else. We’ve been here too long.”  
“Sounds great, would love to. But where would we go?”  
“I don’t know. We will just go.” He walked over to her and looked her in the eyes. “It will be an adventure. You like those, right?”  
Kae’s scowl faded. “Okay. Tomorrow our quest for a new home begins.” She was so ready to break out of their routine. Yes, she loved all the time had gotten to spend together, but she needed to keep moving.   
That night, they opened up another can of food and scarfed it down. They had only allowed one can of food to be opened each day so they didn’t run out too fast. They had spent the rest of the day packing a few more items and walking around the woods.   
Kae’s mind raced with anticipation for the next day. Something new finally! She curled herself up next to Murphy and closed her eyes. His arms wrapped around her and pulled her in close. Sleep took its time coming to them that night, but it did come eventually.


	11. Spoiled Food

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get ugly.

“Take Rine and Elry with you. That should be more than enough. Bring them back here. Do not kill them yet. We might still have use for them.”  
______  
The next morning, the day they planned to leave, Kae didn’t do her usual shuffle outside. She jumped up from bed and ran as fast as she could out the door. As soon as she reached a bush, she began to vomit. She felt like her entire stomach was going to come up with everything.  
Her sudden dash outside had woken Murphy up and he had run out after her. Realizing she was sick, he calmly walked over to her and pulled back her hair. Finally, her stomach decided it was empty enough and she was able to sit down.   
Murphy went and got some water for her. She swished it around and spat it back out a few times before taking a sip.   
“That can of food must have been more spoiled than my stomach of steel could handle…” She leaned her head onto her bent knees and tried not to throw up again.  
“You should have had what I had instead! Was much easier to digest.” Murphy tried to lighten the situation.  
“Very funny.”  
“You ready to go back in? We can take our time leaving… it doesn’t even have to be today.”  
“I want to go today. I don’t want to wait any longer. Help me up.” She slowly lifted her head up and reached her arm out towards him.  
Murphy slowly picked her off of the ground and turned to go back to the bunker. But, her stomach did not like her being up right again. Her world spun around her and she was suddenly dead weight in his arms. He quickly lowered her back down and she bent over sick again. Her body shook and shivered from the expulsion of stomach contents.   
Instead of getting up again, she simply laid her head in his lap and waited for her world to stop spinning. Had she been poisoned? Murphy seemed fine and they shared everything. Maybe she had sucked in something from the stream that wasn’t friendly. Either way, she was going nowhere fast.   
Murphy let her lay down for a while. He worried about her and didn’t want to do anything to make her sick again. He wondered the same things she did. Why was she sick and he wasn’t?   
Other than her puke that sat on the ground beside them, it was a descent day, good for traveling. Even though it was still early morning, the sun already had the Earth warmed up. It was going to be a hot day. Maybe they should follow the stream and stay close to the water, he thought. At this point though, they were likely not going anywhere any time soon.   
Behind them, the leaves rustled ever so slightly. The sound seemed harmless enough, but Murphy realized there wasn’t a breeze. Just as he turned his head to look at the direction the sound came from, a sharp blow hit his head.   
He fell over onto the ground; his head felt like it had burst in two. His world blurred and he couldn’t get his brain to catch up with what was happening. His thoughts moved so slow.   
He could hear Kae scream and his eyes adjusted enough to see a look of horror on her face. Three tall figures stood over them. They all had a mask on their face that made them look less than human. One had a sword out, another had a bow and quiver of arrows. Murphy slowly connected that the hilt of the sword had been what hit him in the head. The grounders had come for them.  
One of them grabbed his hands and wrenched them together. Using a rough rope, his hands were bound and the grounder held onto one end of it. The smaller of the three grounders came up to him and punched him hard in the face. He could only see spots in his vision. The grounder continued to hit him and he felt a sharp pain shoot in his side. Warm blood trickled down his chin and he fell forward onto the dirt.   
As he passed out, he could hear Kae streaming his name and her feet scrambling in the dirt. The sword cut into his skin, but his senses were too shut down to notice the pain.   
With her world still spinning, Kae desperately tried to stand and fight against the grounders. She pulled out her knife from her boot and charged at the one with the bow. She didn’t even manage to graze the grounder’s side before he had turned around and slapped her aside.   
The knife fell out of her hand when she hit the ground. She heard Murphy cry out as he was beaten and cut. Blood already dripped down his face and sides. When he stopped crying out, she knew he had passed out finally.   
She reached her hand out and tried to find the knife again. Her fingers slipped around the handle of it and she pulled it in front of herself. The grounder charged her again with an arrow in his hand. She tried to defend herself, but was too dizzy to put up much of a fight. The arrow found its way into her right shoulder with a sickening sound. She screamed out as pain vibrated through her body.   
The grounder kicked her in the side. She raised up her knife in one more desperate attempt and caught the grounder’s arm on the blade. The grounder hit her again harder and sank another arrow into her hip.   
Her nose singed in pain as the grounder’s boot made contact with her face. She spit out blood that had dripped into her mouth. Just before she passed out as well, she saw the grounders yelling at each other. Darkness.


	12. The Ugly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We are in the grounders' perspective again.

Maylynn stormed up to Elry. “You weren’t meant to kill her! We were ordered to bring them back to the Commander alive.” She had spent weeks watching these two and didn’t want things to look bad on her now, this close to the end.   
“She isn’t dead yet! We might still be able to get her back to the commander before she dies.” He didn’t regret what he did to the small girl. She had come at him and he was defending himself.   
“She might as well be dead.” Rine stood over where the girl who was laying completely still and covered in blood in the leaves.   
“We should get moving. We need to get the other one back before he wakes up.” Maylynn checked the binds on the male’s wrists and handed the rope back to Rine.  
“What about her?” Elry pointed the end of his bow in Kae’s direction.  
“Leave her. She isn’t worth anything to us anymore.” Maylynn was already working on an explanation for the Commander as to why they didn’t have the girl with them.   
The three grounders disappeared into the woods as quietly as they had arrived. Rine dragged Murphy with him as he trekked into the trees.


	13. A Better Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a bit of a flashback in Kae's life. She is actually just unconscious from the previous chapter's events.

Kae hadn’t stopped smiling all day; she was overwhelmed with nerves and excitement for tonight. She walked over to her closet doors and pulled hard against the handles. The thin doors creaked open and revealed an abundant supply of clothes and shoes. Kae had always been a fashionista.   
She reached into the dressier type items she owned and began to slide them across the clothes rack.   
“Nope…nope…. umm nope… maybe…no still no.”  
She panicked a little that she wasn’t going to find anything worthy of tonight’s event. She pulled out a few dresses and held them up to herself in the mirror. She tried twisting and turning to see how she might look in each while dancing.   
Knocking on the door, Kae’s mom popped her head in to see if she had found anything yet.   
“That one isn’t too shabby!” Her mom winked at her and smiled at her 15-year-old daughter.   
“Which one do you like better? Which one says “mascaraed ball” most?”  
“Well…that pink one isn’t bad…but none are really what I had in mind for you tonight.”  
“Okay…What do you have in mind, Mom?” She was used to her mom’s teases.   
Her mom reached onto a shelf in the room and pulled down a medium box. She pulled it open and dug around to the bottom. She pulled out some cloth that was light blue and lacy. Unfolding it, Kae realized that it was a short dress with a lacy outer layer over a light blue under layer.   
“This is more of what I had in mind.” Her mom beamed up at her   
“Mom, it’s gorgeous! Where did you get it?”  
“Miss Hannah’s daughter wore it a few years back to a dance. Her daughter was about your size at the time so she thought it would look good on you.”  
Kae took the dress from her and slipped it on. She danced over to the mirror and stared at her reflection. The dress was perfect.   
Avery threw open the door and stormed inside. This was a daily occurrence; she practically lived here at this point. “Kae! You look like a princess!”   
“Thanks! Now I just need to make a mask…”  
Avery, even at her young age, was an art mastermind. She grabbed up the black cloth set aside for this craft project and began cutting away at it. It took some time to get everything evened out and lined up right, but Kae had a rockin’ mask ready.   
“Avery, you out did yourself. This is great! Thank you.” She went over and gave her a big bear hug.   
Kae continued to twirl in the mirror and count down the hours until the ball.


	14. Impaled

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kae's journey toward help.

The light was so bright around her, it almost seemed to be screaming at her. She didn’t want to open her eyes. She wanted to go back to her sweet dream of a day long ago.   
She realized it wasn’t the light screaming, it was her body. Every inch of her seared and shot bursts of pain as she lay on the ground and breathed. Tears began to slip down her cheeks; she was so overwhelmed.   
“Just let me die…” At least that is what she wanted to say, but her voice couldn’t make a sound.   
Was there anything left to do but die? She missed the moments when she was lying on the ground just because she was stubborn or lazy; not covered in her own blood. The gravity of her situation began to sink in even more.   
Was Murphy alive? Had they left his dead body next to her? She slowly allowed her eyes to open. If he was dead, she didn’t want to see his lifeless body, but she also needed to know. At first, her vision was tainted red from the blood in her eyes. She blinked a few times and it cleared away.   
She carefully tried to ease her head to the left and search for a body. Nothing. She did the same as she turned to the right and once again, Murphy wasn’t there. Okay…so he might still be alive. That was reason enough to see what else she could move without causing enough pain to pass out again.   
She started with her arms. She moved each one very slowly up and down along the ground. They were bruised. She could have kept moving her arms too if it weren’t for the pain that made her mind reel when her right shoulder shifted. She couldn’t remember why it hurt so much so she carefully looked down at it.  
To her absolute horror, an arrow was sticking straight up into the air from her body. The tears turned into sobs. Kae allowed herself to cry for a minute before deciding to continue the Kae Evaluation.  
Next, she moved one leg at a time. The right one was stiff and had lots of cuts and bruises. The left was worse. The leg itself was fine more or less, but the left side of her hips revealed another arrow. More sobs.   
She allowed herself to lay on the ground in self-pity for an hour or more. Finally, she ran out of tears and her brain put itself to work. She had to get help or she was going to die. And that death would take some time. It wouldn’t be quick and easy.   
Murphy was all she had though and he was gone. She didn’t even know if he was still breathing where ever he was. It was she, herself, and Kae out there alone. She couldn’t go anywhere with two arrows sticking out of her. She wondered if her knife was still in reaching distance.   
She reached out her left arm and found nothing. Sure enough, it was on her right side, the mind-boggling painful side. Using her fingers, she walked her hand in the direction of the knife. Pain shot up and down her arm and side. She decided just to go for it and be done with this step. She got her hand around the knife, pulled it to herself, and passed out again.   
When she came back to reality, she still had the knife in her hand. The first good thing in a series of horrible things. She used the knife with her left hand to cut away her shirt. Okay, now she could work with the arrow in her shoulder, and have bandage material. Shit, now it gets harder.   
She had seen arrows removed in movies she had watched, but it wasn’t a skill she ever hoped to need to know. She knew she couldn’t just pull it out or push it through. She had to remove the feathers from the end sticking out of her and then push it through and out. She would have cried again if she wasn’t so dehydrated.   
For a second she considered just going with death. Maybe she could use her knife to kill herself faster. No. She was too stubborn for that. She had to find Murphy.   
She quickly reached up and broke off the feathers and pushed with all her strength until it slipped through. The pain was incredible; her head spun. She grabbed her torn shirt and tried to stop the bleeding. She let herself take a break.   
When she opened her eyes again and decided it was time for round two, she found that the arrow in her hip was going to be much easier. It was all the way through already and near the edge of the skin. She didn’t have another bandage so she decided it would be best to leave the arrow’s shaft in. She went ahead and removed the arrow tip though.   
All of this passing out, crying, and pain had taken most of the day. Dusk was already approaching. She didn’t have time to lay there anymore though. She needed help now. Camp was where she was going to find help. She needed Clarke to bandage her up and Bellamy to help her save Murphy.   
She rolled onto her right side and used her stomach muscles to pull into a sitting position. She closed her eyes and gritted her teeth in the process. Still sitting on the ground, she scooted herself over to the nearest tree and prayed for fallen limbs.   
Bingo. She found a long, sturdy limb she could hold onto when she stood up. Kae went ahead and stood it up straight and held onto it with her left arm. She pulled her right leg underneath her. Using her left arm and right leg, she slowly rose up and stood.   
Kae clung onto the limb once she was up and just breathed in and out until pain diminished a bit. Sweat had begun to run down her face with the pain and effort of standing. She thanked her previous self for asking Murphy which direction camp was from their bunker one day. She knew she needed to head South.   
She turned in that direction and made the first hobble in a long series of hobbling steps toward camp. Every move seemed like a giant feat to have accomplished. Kae thought back to the first day of banishment. Murphy had said she looked like she just stepped out of a horror movie.   
She hadn’t seen herself to know what she looked like now, but she figured she looked like death hobbling on a stick. A sweaty death hobbling on a stick.   
“One more step, one more step, one more step…” She kept whispering the chant to herself as she made the journey. She traveled through the entire night at a tortoise-like pace. It had been nearly 18 hours since they took Murphy. A lot could have happened in that time, but she couldn’t let herself think about that.   
At dawn, she began to notice things that looked familiar. She was close. Faster hobbling ensued; fast relative to a tortoise that is. After about another half hour, she finally came to a clearing that revealed the Skycru’s tall gates.   
The sun was just beginning to rise next to it so a bright yellow light shimmered over the metal. Was it actually shimmering or was she just shaking? Clanging sounded from within the gates. Someone must have spotted her standing just within the trees. Look out had improved since she had left.   
Now that she had arrived, she was realizing once more how much pain she was in and just how exhausted she felt. The gates edged open. Kae pleaded that they would hurry up. She needed medical attention now!  
Two guards with guns slipped outside the walls. Their guns were pointed straight at her like she was the enemy. Part of Kae wondered where they had found guns, the other part of her wondered why they were pointed at her. She couldn’t recognize either of them; both had dirt smeared across their faces like a camouflage. “Guys…”  
One cut her off. “Who are you? What business do you have here?”  
Kae thought: Um…hello do you not remember me and what do you mean “what business do I have here”? Do you not see how broken I am? Instead, she replied: “Please put down the guns. I need help.”  
“There is no help for you here. Leave now. We will shoot you.”  
“Please! I need Clarke and Bellamy’s help!” She felt like she might pass out soon.   
The other guard spoke up. “How do you know about Clarke and Bellamy?”  
“I am one of you! I came down on the drop ship with the 100 prisoners. I left with Murphy.”  
The same guard who had asked her about Clarke and Bellamy lowered his gun slightly. “Kae? Oh my god! What happened to you?” He turned to the other guard and slung his gun across his back out of the way. “Go get Clarke now!” The other guard ran back inside.   
Kae recognized the guard’s voice. “Travis?”  
He rushed up to her and put his arms under her arms to support her. The stick she had used to prop herself up on the journey fell to the ground. She gladly let herself completely rely on his strength rather than her own. Her body was done fighting for now. A few tears managed to run down her face in spite of her extreme dehydration. Travis helped her through the gates and Clarke ran up to them.   
“Travis, what’s going on?”  
“It’s Kae!”  
“Oh my god! Get her into my tent now!” Clarke had already started to mentally make a list of all she would need to do next. Get Kae on a cot, sterilize hands, locate all wounds… She started to get angry at herself for letting her stay out in the woods with John Murphy. She shouldn’t have given her the option. This wouldn’t have happened to her then; she would have been safer.   
Travis moved Kae over to a cot and ever so carefully helped her lay down. She looked awful. His heart filled with grief as he looked down at his friend. She looked nearly dead. He should have stayed with her and Murphy. He had been a coward. His hands began to shake with emotion. What had she been through to get to this point?   
Clarke bent herself over Kae and started to examine her. “What happened, Kae?” Clarke didn’t even know where to begin. There was so much blood, dirt, cuts, bruises, and an arrow sticking through her hip. How was she even still alive?  
“Grounders. They attacked us. Took Murphy. They thought I was dead and left.” She was so tired. She didn’t even find the strength to open her eyes any more. She could hear Clarke giving someone orders. She could feel her pants being cut off of her body and her t-shirt bandage being removed from her shoulder.   
Clarke went to work as best as she could. There was so much she didn’t know how to handle so she just did the best she could. Bellamy had come in to see what was happening. In his own way of helping, he stationed guards outside the tent to keep people from bothering Clarke. No one mentioned her banishment.  
Travis stayed with Clarke and Kae the whole time. He did what he could to help. Mostly, that was handing stuff to Clarke and gently sponging off all the blood and dirt that coated Kae’s still body. He kept checking to make sure she was still breathing. She just lay there quiet through the whole thing. Even when Clarke removed the arrow from her hip, she didn’t make a sound. By the time Clarke stepped back, Kae was practically mummified in bandages.


	15. Anywhere But Here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I really like doing flashbacks apparently, so here is another one.

While Kae was laying on the cot and Clarke worked over her, she had mentally taken herself far away. 

His fingers lightly swept down her back and over her thighs and up again. He could tell that she was awake, but she hadn’t opened her eyes yet. Her head and bear shoulders were all that poked out from under the blankets. He had found out that night that she was quite the cover hogger. But then again, so was he so it was like a blanket battle all through the night. It was a battle that no one really ever won.   
He leaned closer to her and whispered in her ear. “Good morning, Highness.” She could feel his warm breath against the side of her face. She turned over to face him and placed light kisses on his lips in response. Hums of pleasure rose in his throat. Last night had created a fire within both of them that hungered for more.   
They had told themselves that they should get up and make something of the day. However, when they finally pulled themselves out of bed, they both found that their clothes were still rather damp from last night’s wash. They couldn’t very well go about naked all day.  
“Well, what should we do with our day now?” Murphy walked over to where she was standing and slid his hands onto her hips.   
“I might have one or two ideas…” And with that, they melted into one again. Kae jumped up and wrapped her legs around his waist. Leaning back to keep his balance, Murphy walked them back to the cot. He allowed himself to fall back onto the cot where they would stay most of the day. 

Kae relieved these moments over again in her head until she simply passed out.


	16. Calm Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Interactions between Clark and Kae.

When she woke up again, Clarke was sitting on a crate next to her bed. She had fallen asleep and her head was tilted against the wall, leaving a small red mark on her temple. Kae didn’t want to wake her so she decided to lay there for a minute. But then she remembered the urgency of the situation and decided to wake her up anyway.   
She wasn’t sure her voice was ready for use; her throat was unbearably dry. So she slowly reached her arm out to Clarke and gently tapped her on the knee. Clarke’s eyes shot open and she jumped up from where she was sitting. Kae slowly slid her arm back onto the bed which caught Clarke’s notice.   
“Sorry. It’s kind of a habit these days. You just don’t know… How are you feeling?”  
Kae tried using her voice. As she expected, she sounded like a dying male toad, but she managed to croak out “water?”  
“Oh! Of course!” Clarke reached over and grabbed up a plastic cup that held a small amount of water. She sat back down on the crate and lifted the glass towards Kae’s mouth. “Take small sips. We will start with only a little.”  
The water was mildly warm, but it still tasted amazing to Kae. It did send burning sensations down her throat, but she hoped it would ease with continued sips. Clarke pulled the cup away long before Kae was ready to give it up. Her eyes must have revealed her sadness, because Clarke spoke up to reassure her.  
“You can have more later. I just want to make sure your body is ready for it.”  
Kae decided to try her voice again. It came out only slightly better this time; the toad didn’t sound as dead anymore you could say. “Thank you for helping me.”  
“We weren’t just going to leave you like that, Kae. You were going to die like you were.”  
“But I was banished…”  
“There are still people here that miss you. We would welcome you back if you planned to stick around. If anyone said otherwise, I would go after them myself.” Clarke smiled down at Kae and began to check the bandages to make sure they didn’t need changing yet.  
“I can’t stay. I need to go get Murphy back.” Kae winced at one bandage Clarke pulled on.  
“Kae, you aren’t going anywhere any time soon. You are lucky to be alive.” Her expression looked really concerned now. She had really thought that Kae would stay now that she was here.   
“No. I have to go save him! I can’t leave him!” She wanted to start crying again out of frustration and panic. Her breathing had become rapid and her hands had started to pull at the blankets around her.  
“You need to calm down. You could hurt yourself more.” Clarke’s hands lightly pushed down on Kae’s shoulders to keep her from moving too much. She looked Kae directly in the eyes to convey the importance of relaxing. She didn’t let go until Kae’s breathing slowed down again. She sat back down on the crate and held Kae’s hand in hers.  
“You need to worry about healing right now. Not about rescue missions. Murphy is either already gone, or they plan to keep him alive for a reason. Either way, you have time to rest.”  
Kae had actually started to cry now as grief washed over her. She couldn’t bear the thought of losing him now. “Clarke, I can’t lose him.” She squeezed her hand as tightly as her weak hands could manage.  
“Rest, I’ll come back later with Bell. We can talk about this more then.” With that, Clarke got up and walked out of the tent. Kae stared after her, but again fell victim to exhaustion and dozed off.


	17. Excuse Me?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Big stuff going down! Is the news true or are they reading into things too much?

The sound of the tent door flaps whipping open startled Kae awake again. Clarke and Bellamy ducked inside and came to sit next to her bed. Clarke picked up the cup of water again and let Kae have a few more sips. “You will get to have as much water as you want now. You seem to be tolerating fluids well.” She felt her forehead. “You don’t feel as warm as you did earlier either. That’s really good.” Kae had no idea she had been running a fever earlier, but she did feel less like crap than before.   
Bellamy leaned his elbows onto his knees and watched Kae. “Glad you’re still with us. I wasn’t sure you were going to make it for a while there.”  
“Neither was I…Thank you for letting me stay here until I am ready to move again.” She tried to roll over to face him with little luck.  
“What do you mean? You aren’t staying?” His eye brows furrowed and he continued to stare intently at her.  
“That is why I asked you to come in here with me, Bellamy. I figured we should hear her whole story. She wants to go after Murphy.”  
“Kae, it would be suicide to go after him. There’s nothing more we can do. I’m sorry.” He really did look apologetic, but Kae wasn’t having any of this giving up crap. She would go with or without help.  
Clarke could see Kae getting agitated again and spoke up. “Why don’t you tell us what happened exactly. Maybe there is something we can still do.” She shot a hard look at Bellamy that told him not to say otherwise.  
Kae told them that she and Murphy had been staying at the bunker and hadn’t seen any grounders since they got there. She told them about the day of the attack and what they did to her and to Murphy. Finally, she explained how she managed to hobble to their camp. Bellamy and Clarke were quiet for a while before Bellamy spoke up again.  
“Kae, what would you have us do? We can’t win a battle against the grounders. I won’t send our people to die for one man. A man that was banished!”  
“You have to! I won’t leave him there to die!”  
“Kae! He is probably already dead! He has been with the grounders for days!”  
She didn’t know what to say. Bellamy wasn’t going to help her. He didn’t care about John Murphy any more.   
She tried one more attempt. “What would you be willing to do if they took your sister or Clarke? Wouldn’t you be willing to do anything to get them back?”  
“That’s different. She is my sister and the camp needs Clarke. We couldn’t survive without her skills.”  
“It’s not different. I need him like you need Clarke and I love him as much as you love your sister.” It was true, she had fallen in love with John Murphy and she would do anything to save his sorry ass. She had told him that is why she stayed with him in the first place. He wouldn’t survive without her she had said on that first day. Now it was more true than ever.  
“You can’t love Murphy. He isn’t good. Surely you see that by now!”  
“I’m no good either! It doesn’t matter! I do love him.” Her voice had risen as loud as it would get. Clarke still hadn’t said anything. Bellamy didn’t say anything back to her. He was clearly fuming and didn’t know how to handle this. He didn’t want to risk lives to save someone who was banished. But he also knew that not doing anything was wrong. If she truly loved him like she claimed, he knew she would stop at nothing to save him. He would do the same for his sister or for Clarke.  
Kae turned to look at Clarke. Her face was deep in thought yet her eyes keep getting bigger and bigger. She looked back at Kae and seemed almost to be fighting thoughts in her head like she didn’t want them to come out. I guess they won though, because they decided to be voiced anyway.  
“You mentioned you were sick the day the grounders attacked, right?”  
“Yes…why?”  
“And none of the food you had earlier made you sick? And Murphy was fine, no upset stomach?”  
“No…none of that…” Clarke seemed really worried now. What had she put together? Kae was ready for her to just spit it out! Bellamy was watching Clarke grow more and more panicked and began to feel anxious himself.  
“Kae, did you and Murphy sleep together?”   
“Excuse me?” Had she really just asked that in front of Bellamy? Why did it matter?   
“Is it possible that you are pregnant?” Clarke’s question hung in the air around them like dust settling from an explosion. Bellamy’s eyes got huge and he kept looking back from Kae to Clarke and back again like he would find answers somewhere between them. Kae just froze. She couldn’t process the question. She had no way of figuring out at this point if she was or not. Her periods had been so irregular from the stress of life. They came and went with no rhyme or reason. If she was, how far along was she?  
She reached out and grabbed Clarke’s hand. “Clarke…I don’t know…” Her heart thudded in her chest. Clarke squeezed her hand back to reassure her.  
“If you are. We will take care of you. You can stay here and get the care you will need.”  
“Clarke, what if the grounders killed it…” If she was pregnant, the attack could have ended any chances that small peanut of a human had. Bellamy stood up and paced the room. He ran his hands through his hair and tried to figure out what he should do. Should he do something for her? This was new, uncharted territory.   
“We will have no way of knowing for a while. We can only wait.” Clarke hated saying that. She wanted to be able to give her all the answers now. She looked at Bellamy. They needed to discuss plans for saving Murphy. He might just be a father-to-be.   
Bellamy was on the same page. “Well, what do we do? We can’t out man the grounders.”  
“They didn’t kill him when they attacked. They must have wanted him for something. But what?” Clarke’s head was spinning with questions.  
“Maybe we just send a small party out to see if we can determine where he is and if he is still alive. We’ll strategize and come back here to regroup and get supplies. We can go from there.” Bellamy didn’t like the idea of going into grounder territory, but he was invested now. He figured he would go with three other guys tomorrow morning. He would need to spend the rest of the day in preparation and let others know what was going on. Whoever he took with him would be risking their lives.


	18. Assembling a Team

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter centers around Bellamy and several guys in the camp.

Bellamy left Clarke and Kae alone in the tent. He would never have guessed he would be in this position right now. Saving John Murphy from the grounders. If Kae didn’t care so damn much about him and there wasn’t a chance of her being pregnant, he would have let Murphy be grounder barbeque. He had chosen his fate when he hunted down Charlotte. She might still be with them if she hadn’t felt cornered. She had just been a kid.   
There was a group of guys standing around enjoying some drinks. Jasper had a talent for creating alcoholic beverages and it did the camp good to enjoy little things like that from time to time. His drinks tasted awful, but it did the job and it wasn’t water for once. Bellamy walked over towards them and grabbed a drink as well. Today was drink worthy…  
“Rough day?” One of the guys, Connor, eyed his frustrated expression with a playful smile on his face. Connor was of medium height, dark skin, and next to no hair on his head. Bellamy would trust him to fight well, but only for himself.   
“Crazy day.” Bellamy downed his drink and set the cup aside. He turned to face as many in the group as possible. “I’m going to need some volunteers and it is for something that I wouldn’t normally ask of you. It’s going to be dangerous and I can’t make any guarantees everyone will make it back in one piece. But it is important, otherwise I would never ask it. I won’t judge anyone who doesn’t want to join me.”  
Miller, someone Bellamy trusted more than Connor, spoke up. “What exactly are you asking us to volunteer for?”   
“By now you all know that Kae came back yesterday and was in rough shape. She had stayed with Murphy when he was banished a while back. Until two days ago, neither had seen the grounders while they were out there. But, the grounders attacked both of them and took Murphy. They left Kae behind thinking she was already dead, or at least close to it. Now we need to go to the grounder’s camp and find out if he is still alive. We won’t attack, just strategize. We will return there another time if he is still alive.”  
“Why should we rescue Murphy? He isn’t one of us anymore.” Connor had been the one who tied the noose around Murphy’s neck and he wasn’t ready to meet him face to face again.   
“Connor has a point Bellamy. Why are you risking lives for him?” Miller didn’t like the idea of putting his life on the line for Murphy. Murphy had ragged on him day in and day out when he lead under Bellamy. He had made a lot of enemies when he was still here.   
“I don’t expect all of you to join me in this. I just need two or three volunteers. I’m doing this for Kae.” This was all going about as well as Bellamy expected. He would be lucky to get one volunteer. Whoever that would be would likely only be going for the thrill of it, not for Murphy.   
“Not that I have anything against her, she’s great and all, but isn’t she considered banished too?” The question Bellamy had hoped to avoid; he wasn’t sure of her status himself. She hadn’t done anything against the camp, but she had chosen a criminal over them all. Wallace, a guy Bellamy really didn’t know well, had asked the question.  
“Honestly, I think she has paid more than enough for her choices. Neither Clarke nor I have come to a conclusion if she can be accepted back in this easy. For now, though, she needs our help.” He was pulling this out his butt.   
“I just still don’t understand why rescuing Murphy is so important. We took Kae in and helped her; we don’t owe either of them any more than that.” Connor’s statement had caused several guy’s heads to nod in agreement.  
Well, it was time to play the card he was hoping to avoid. He didn’t know if Kae was cool with him spreading rumors about her. If it got people signed up to go, he figured she wouldn’t mind.   
“Kae might be carrying Murphy’s child. We can’t confirm right now if she really is pregnant, but if she is, she is not going to bring a child into this god-forsaken world alone. She is going to need the father, Murphy. That’s why this is important.” Bellamy had started racking his hands through his curly hair again.   
“Kae’s pregnant?” Travis had just walked up to the group. He couldn’t believe what he had just heard. Kae pregnant with Murphy’s child? No one here knew how to take care of a baby.   
“There is a good chance of it. Only time will tell if she is.”  
“Shouldn’t we wait to find out if she is? How long until she knows for sure? Isn’t there some kind of test Clarke and do for that?” Connor couldn’t believe an ass like John Murphy had not only gotten a girl before him, he had gotten her pregnant.   
“Clarke doesn’t have any kind of supplies for something like that here. I honestly don’t know enough about babies to know how long that sort of thing takes to find out. But I know that if someone I loved was in danger, I would want all the help I could find to get them back.” Bellamy was starting to wonder if he was going to get any volunteers at all.  
“She loves him?” Travis was deep in thought. He still had trouble wrapping his mind around the idea of Kae being with Murphy. He had never seemed like her type to him. But she was his friend and he had really missed her while she was gone. If she loved him, he would go with Bellamy to rescue Murphy. She deserved that much from him after he abandoned them both and went back to camp.   
“Yes. She does.”  
“Then I’ll go with you. She’s my friend.” Travis’s agreement to go with Bellamy started a chain reaction. Peer pressure at its finest.  
“I’ll go too, Bellamy.” Wallace was ready to get out of camp for a while anyways. And if he got to kill some grounder on the way, then bonus. He wanted to see those sons of bitches get what’s coming to them. They had killed one of his friends the first week they were on earth.  
“Miller, Connor?” Bellamy was happy with just the two, but he thought he should push his luck and see if they might still join.   
“Count me out. I’m not risking my life for some chick I barely know. And I sure as hell am not helping Murphy.” Connor still hoped he would never have to face Murphy again. He didn’t want any part in saving him. Sorry, Kae. Nothing personal.  
Miller took his time deciding; he didn’t want to rush into a suicide mission. He trusted Bellamy’s judgement though and if he was ready to go into danger for this girl, then maybe he should consider it. “When are you leaving?”  
“First light tomorrow. We need the day to travel. Those going will be off duty for the rest of the day. Prepare and get some rest. I don’t know when we will get to stop to catch our breath once we get going.”  
“Okay. I’ll go. But the moment things get dicey, I’m out. I’m not going to die for this.”


	19. No Rest for the Weary

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More Bellamy perspective!

Bellamy and the group going spent the rest of the day gathering supplies and taking some time off. Kae accepted the fact that she wasn’t going anywhere any time soon; her body still refused to stop hurting when she moved anything and puking up anything she ate was a normal occurrence. She also didn’t want to risk the possibly of harming the baby further if he or she was still alive at all. Kae would be waiting less than patiently at camp for their return.   
Clarke would be in charge of everyone while they were gone. Watch was doubled; if grounders attacked, they would want as much warning as possible to escape safely. They didn’t need a war on their hands while one of their leaders was gone.   
Late into that night, Bellamy still wasn’t able to fall asleep; the next morning weighed on his mind. He had no idea if this was going to all turn out in their favor or not. He hoped this wasn’t the last time he would look up at the stained tarp that covered his tent. He knew what he was doing was the right plan of action though, it is his best chance of rescuing Murphy and surviving.   
He closed his eyes and tried to will his body into resting. Unfortunately, day break came before any rest came to him.


	20. Reasons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team sets out.

The sun had just started to line the rim of the horizon. The morning air was crisp with a cool breeze that ruffled the leaves and caused tents to lightly flap. It was a strange time of day. You could still see the moon and stars, but the sun was making its appearance. It is neither day nor night, rather some odd mixture of the two. Bellamy could see the dark outlines of Miller, Wallace, and Travis. Their backs were loaded with small bags of rations and protection from the elements.   
Before he joined them, he had one more stop he wanted to make. He walked over to the tent and hovered outside the door flap. He wasn’t sure if he should look inside, but he needed to one more time. He needed one final reminder as to why he was doing this.  
Gently, his left hand pulled back the tent flap and he poke his head inside. It took a second for his eyes to adjust to the darkness of the room. In the corner, he could see her cot. Kae slept restlessly; her body fidgeted under the sheet and light snoring came and went as her dreams progressed. Clarke had made up a bed on the floor and slept beside her. Kae had asked to stay with her for the night after panic continued to swell around in her mind. There were so many unanswered questions.   
Bellamy smiled as he noticed the way Clarke’s nose wrinkled up when she slept. She almost looked like she had smelled something fowl, but she always looked that way when she was asleep. It was one of many things he liked about her. It’s one thing that makes her who she is.   
If Clarke were the one being held by the grounders, he would do anything in his power to bring her back. He couldn’t imagine running this camp without her. She was at least family to him if not more. This is why he was doing this for Kae. Murphy is who she needs.   
He allowed himself a few more seconds there before carefully setting the tent flap down and retreated to where the others waited.


	21. Death by Butt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We now return to your usual paid programing of Murphy getting into shit.

Humidity clung to the walls and no breeze offered any relief from the moisture that soaked his clothes. Small slats in the ceiling allowed meniscal rays of the afternoon sunlight to seep inside the small enclosure. His hands, coated in dried blood and cuts, scraped across the floor and gathered a small mound of old leaves.   
His fingers curled around the mound to create a crunching sound as the leaves broke apart into tiny pieces. He then picked up the remains and threw them away from him. He had been stuck in this prison for days. Where the prison was exactly he wasn’t sure. When the grounders brought him here, he had been in and out of consciousness.   
The first day, they left him alone in here. But that was torture enough. His body acted as a cage of pain. When Murphy had woken up, his head hurt worse than any hang over he had ever experienced. It was easy to deduce after one small movement that at least one rib was broken, he had multiple knife wounds, and could barely see due to his eyes being immensely swollen. It was difficult for him to focus on any one thought for any length of time. His mind mostly jostled back and forth from terrific pain to drowsiness.   
By the following morning, he had remained conscious long enough to appreciate the gravity of his predicament and that Kae was not there. With grounders, there were only two choices- be useful then die or just die. Obviously they only needed one of them which meant that Kae was already dead. He hadn’t been able to protect her.   
A mixture of fury and crushing brokenness descended over him. He was so helpless to do anything about either one. He desperately wished Kae were here now; she would know what to do. But at the same time, he was glad it was over for her. Dying quickly would be better than anything that was likely still in store for him.   
It wasn’t until that night that Murphy had any visitors. This grounder was ginormous. Murphy was fairly certain the earth shook when he walked over towards him. No weapons were visibly present on him, but that was no relief after one glance at the size of his hands. This made the giant from the Princess Bride look downright normal.   
With the condition he was in and the size of this grounder giant, Murphy was pretty sure he could die simply by being sat on. The mental picture of death by butt was enough to raise his sarcastic wit to life again. He would go down verbally swinging if not physically.   
A low rumbling of a voice broke over the room as the giant began his interrogation. “How many of you are there?”  
“Last I checked there is only one of me…but I seemed to have hit my head pretty hard and might have forgotten a clone or two.”   
Well, the monster man didn’t appreciate humor apparently. He grabbed Murphy off the ground and threw him like a small doll against the wall. All the breath left his body and his head throbbed with shooting pain. The grounder kept his hand pressed against Murphy’s neck to hold him on the wall. “Try again.” His eyes stared down at Murphy, challenging him to act foolishly.   
Murphy’s hands came up to hold onto the grounder’s arms, taking pressure off his neck. “It’s really just me now that you killed Kae.” He was really starting to get pissed off again.   
“You mean the girl in the forest. We know there are more of you at a camp South of where we picked you up.”  
“I’m not with them. They hate me.” He was a little surprised the grounders hadn’t already picked them off too.  
“Stop playing games fool. You know how many there are in that camp. You came down from the sky with them.”   
“When we came down here, we didn’t know anyone lived here. Sorry if we have been noisy neighbors, but your people started killing us off almost from day one. I can’t tell you how many there are because you continue to kill them every chance you get.” Murphy’s voice had risen to almost a shout by the end. Kae was among the death count now.  
The grounder threw him back onto the ground and pressed his boot onto his chest. A yell escaped Murphy as one of the worst pains yet spiked its way over his ribs. The grounder held it there as he spoke his next words slowly. “We kill your people because they aim to kill us and take our home. Skycru doesn’t stand a chance against our army. We will slaughter all of you.”   
The giant tromped out of the door and once again left Murphy alone in his cell. He received water and table scraps that night, but nothing more for several days.


	22. Guy Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Traveling to the grounder camp.

The group had been walking for several hours, but Bellamy figured the grounder camp couldn’t be too much further. Travis had kept their pace slower than Bellamy would like; he apparently wasn’t very skilled in the hiking business. Nor was he very quiet. Travis talked constantly about anything and everything. Miller had whispered teasingly to Bellamy a few miles back that maybe they could trade Travis for Murphy.  
“What do you think Kae and Murphy have been doing all this time on their own? It had to get dull out here, away from the camp day after day.” Travis stumbled over nearly every tree root he stepped close to.  
“I don’t have to think too hard to figure out what they did with their time.” Wallace cracked a smile at Travis who seemed all too unamused by his remark. “That son of a bitch Murphy might actually be on to something!”  
“Right? No work. Laying around all day with a girl. Maybe I should be banished next!” Miller slapped Wallace on the back as he walked past him with a wide grin.   
“Enough. All of you. We aren’t too far so keep quiet.” Bellamy put a quick end to their pleasure. He also didn’t want them getting any ideas.   
Moments later, he could hear the noises of a large camp. He ushered the others into crouching positions and inched forward slowly on his hands and knees. For a time, he simply sat still and listened. The voices that carried up to him all seemed at ease and unalarmed that anyone might be near their camp. The afternoon sun was still high so there was no help from the elements to keep hidden, but it also helped him clearly see what was happening inside.   
Grounders milled around, some dueled, some prepared meals, others stood guard at various positions. No down time for this group. Bellamy scanned the hoard of enemies for any sign of a prison or a chained up Murphy. He couldn’t make out any building that seemed like it would hold Murphy more likely than another. They were all dark, soot covered buildings that had guards perched out front.   
“Do you see him?” Travis whispered this to no one in particular.  
“No. I don’t see anything that looks like it would hold prisoners specifically. It all looks the same.” Bellamy wasn’t really sure what he should do from this point. He couldn’t exactly just walk in and ask around for the prisoner.   
“I can’t imagine he’s still alive in there.” Wallace was getting antsy sitting so close to the grounder hub. He was ready to call it quits and report that Murphy was long dead.   
It was then that a loud bell started clanging and the grounders began to swarm to the east side of the camp. Organized chaos erupted as grounders began to shout, grab weapons, and tear apart the camp looking for something. Or someone.   
“I think it’s time to go.” Bellamy wasn’t going to wait around until the grounders found them hiding here. He didn’t think they were after them, but they would be if they were spotted. The group quickly scooted away from the camp before standing up to run.   
Before they had the chance to get too far away from the camp, a loud crunch of leaves to their left froze them in their tracks. Miller and Bellamy raised their guns in the direction of the sound and all waited, barely breathing, for the source of the noise to show itself.   
If it was a grounder, they’d already been noticed and were dead men. From behind one of the large trees, a figure came out from behind it. Its hands were raised in a surrender and it shouted for them not to shoot. It was covered head to toe in dried blood and dirt. It could barely stand up and appeared too weak to make a sudden movement toward them.   
Was this who had the grounders in a tizzy? This person looked like something the earth itself had rejected; it barely looked human with all its brokenness. Bellamy and Miller kept their guns trained on it while Wallace drew a knife and pointed it in its direction as well.   
“Don’t shoot. Bellamy, help me…please!” The figure made a movement toward the group, but stumbled and fell to the ground. His voice was so hoarse the group could barely grasp his words.  
“Murphy?” it hardly looked like the same person to Miller, but the same eyes still peered from behind the bloody mask before him.   
The group lowered their weapons and Travis, now realizing who it was, surged forward to grab onto Murphy and support his weight. There was no time to ask how he escaped or if he was up to the run back to camp. Sounds of the grounders getting closer rang from behind them; they all had to get moving.   
With the help of Travis and Bellamy, Murphy was able to move at a medium pace. The group headed deeper into the thick woods, towards home. They had to carefully wind their way over fallen branches, roots, and vines. There was no way they were going to out run their pursuers, yet the whole way back, they never met. The group kept at a steady pace, always on the lookout for an attack. By the time the forest cleared and camp came into view, they realized an attack was not coming. They had made it.


	23. Secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They arrive back at camp 100.

Bellamy decided to be discreet about their return to the camp. He and the team with Murphy quietly maneuvered into his own tent. They helped Murphy down onto Bellamy’s bedding and Travis left to find Clarke. Bellamy sat down on the dirt floor and rest his head against a box of supplies. His heart was still racing from the flee back to camp. Why hadn’t any of the grounders gotten to them? It seemed too easy. He turned his head to the left to look at Murphy. He was in bad shape; he was more blood and dirt than person. Bellamy also noticed that he was shaking slightly and seemed barely conscious. What had they done to him?   
Clarke strode into the tent with a small medical kit. Before helping Murphy, she turned to look at Bellamy. “I’m glad you made it back okay. Travis filled me in on what happened already. I don’t see how you managed to not run into any grounders on your way back. It doesn’t make sense.”   
“It doesn’t to me either. We should have been easy targets for them.”   
Clarke nodded and turned her attention to Murphy. She walked slowly over to him; Bellamy could sense that she was taking in all the damage as she approached. She was taking in deep breaths and her brows were furrowed with thought. “Miller, go get me some water and rags. I need to clean him up first.”  
Miller and Wallace had been resting in the corner up to this point. Miller nodded and headed out of the tent. Wallace stood up as well. “Should I go tell Kae we got him?”  
“Not yet. She shouldn’t see him like this. You can go now Wallace; thanks for your help getting him back.” Bellamy walked him out of the tent. “Oh, and Wallace- keep this between us for now.”


	24. Still Dying

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kae and Murphy are reunited and it feels so good. (Except for the physical pain they are in of course...)

Once Miller returned, Clarke worked diligently to clean the layers of mud and blood off of Murphy. Even once she had finished, he still looked terrible. He was covered in cuts and bruises. There really wasn’t much she could do for him in the way of patching him up. He had a broken rib and several broken fingers, so all in all she was pretty helpless to improve his condition.   
She was worried however by how weak he seemed and that he had a significant fever. His whole body was shaking and sweat coated his forehead. Clarke gingerly pushed pillows under his head and neck so he could drink plenty of water. For most of the day, she dampened towels and wiped sweat from his body.   
“I’m going to have Travis come sit in here with you for a while. I need to get up for a bit and check on Kae. Her bandages probably need changing.” Clarke got to her feet and turned toward the door, but didn’t get to step away. Murphy’s hand grabbed hers. She turned her head back around to face him, unsure of what he would need.  
Murphy wasn’t sure he had heard Clarke correctly. Between the fever that clouded his mind and the weakness he was facing, it was difficult to comprehend anything going on right now. “Kae?” Gosh dang did it hurt to breath.  
“She is here in the camp. Kae managed to drag herself here after the grounders took you. She’s been very stubborn, but you probably know that about her.” Clarke turned around again and headed outside. Soon after, Travis took her place in the tent. He sat down on the opposite side of the area, facing Murphy’s cot.   
Murphy was trying to keep his mind on one thought long enough to work out the situation. Kae was… alive. Not dead. Not dead. After grounders…  
Typical Travis decided to voice some thoughts. “So. Life with the grounders sucks huh?” Awkwardness ensued. “Kae doesn’t know we are all back yet. Bellamy and Clarke wanted to wait. I guess to make sure you didn’t die first. But hey, please don’t die now. Kae really needs you now more than ever! So, think of her and fight through this!” His huge smile looked terribly out of place in the dim tent.   
Murphy really wanted to tell Travis to shut his pie hole, but that would be a waste of painful breath. Which now that he was thinking about breathing again, he sounded like a leaky valve. Wheeze in, wheeze out…Suddenly, he felt something warm trickle down his face and his whole body was seized with brutal coughs that caused blood to fly onto the blankets and sprinkle his face.   
“Oh god! Oh god!” Travis flew to his feet and stared at Murphy like he couldn’t believe he had just done that. Like he had a choice. He raced out of the tent and Murphy could hear him screaming Clarke’s name.   
Seconds later, Clarke dashed into the tent and worry covered her face. Travis came in after her. “What happened?”  
“I don’t know! I was just sitting over there and suddenly there was blood! He started coughing like crazy.” Travis looked like he might puke.  
Clarke put on arm in front of Murphy’s stomach and one behind him. She pushed him to lean over so that he didn’t choke on the blood in his throat. Carefully, she wiped away the blood from his face. It looked like blood had also come out from his eyes. This had to be a symptom of the fever he had, but she had never seen anything like this before.   
“Murphy, you still with me?” Clarke tried to keep her arms strong around his torso to hold him up.  
“Still dying.” Blood continued to coat his throat and make it hard to breath. Clarke handed him water to sip on. Slowly, he came back to rest against the cot and take small sips of water. He was pretty sure the grim reaper would appear at the tent flap any moment now.   
Oh god. Someone is entering the tent flap. This is it! Take me out of this hell hole and to my final wheezing breath… Damn, not death. Just Bellamy. “She wouldn’t take no for an answer. I found her half way here. Apparently, Travis’s hollering gave it away.” Bellamy scowled at Travis who had moved to stand in a corner.  
Leaning on his right shoulder, Kae hobbled into the tent. The distance she had traveled on her own to get here was exhausting. When she had heard Travis calling for Clarke, she knew not only had the group returned, something had happened and she needed to know what they had seen. She figured the grounders had spotted them and one of the group had been injured.   
“Kae, you shouldn’t be in here! It’s not safe!” Clarke had raised a hand towards her in warning. “Bellamy, get her out of here.”  
“No! I’m not leaving here without answers!” Finally, she saw who was laying behind Clarke. How…how did they get him back? Heck no, she wasn’t going anywhere. She pushed herself off of Bellamy and awkwardly hobbled over to the cot.   
“Bellamy, you need to get her out of here!” Queen Clarke was not happy.  
“Just give them a minute Clarke.” Bellamy knew he would want the same curtesy if it was him and someone he loved.   
“Fine, but if whatever this is kills the baby, it’s not on me.” Clarke got up and left the tent with Travis following behind her.   
“Uh, I’ll be right outside the tent.” Bellamy exited as well and walked a few steps away to give them some privacy.


	25. Too Stubborn to Die

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kae and Murphy catch up on their shitty lives.

It hardly looked like him. His face was so bruised and cut that his usual smirk couldn’t be found. His eyes were puffy and sweat coated him from head to toe. She didn’t like how unusually quiet he was now. “And I thought I looked bad…” She wanted so badly to hear his sarcasm to reassure her that he was going to make it.   
“I thought they killed you.” His voice wavered. She had never seen him so serious; if he wasn’t so weak and feverish, it looked like he would be crying.   
“The grounders thought so too. I’m too stubborn to die. You couldn’t make it without me, remember.” Shit, now she was going to cry. She carefully sat down next to the cot and rested her head lightly on top of his shoulder. She could hear his breath wheeze in and out. Gosh he needed a bath when this was all over; she decided to breath out her mouth rather than her nose.  
“Your cute stupid (stinky) ass has to make it now! I need you too you know.”  
He reached up his hand as best he could and rested in on her head. He wanted so badly to run his hand through her hair, but that would require coordination he currently did not have. “Anything for you, your highness.”  
They stayed this way for a quiet moment before Murphy asked the question that kept creeping back into his foggy mind. “Did Clarke call you baby?”  
Kae stayed quiet, deliberating how she wanted to tackle this question. She hadn’t yet decided if she was ready to tell him or not. This didn’t seem like the right time, but she also didn’t want to miss her chance. “John, I need to tell you something. But I want to wait until you heal more. I want to tell you, not this half alive version of you. You probably won’t even remember this by tomorrow….”  
He knew it was serious, she had used his first name instead of calling him Murphy. “Then you can just tell me all over again tomorrow. I might actually die if you don’t tell me now.”  
She pulled her head off of his shoulder and looked him in the eyes. “John Murphy, you horrible human being, don’t joke about dying. I would hit you right now if I didn’t think it would actually hurt both of us.”  
Murphy was able to produce a sort-of-laugh at this. “Okay. But your’re explaining first thing tomorrow.”  
“Yes sir. I’m not going anywhere fast these days. You should have seen me when I first arrived. They couldn’t even recognize me.”  
This stung to know she had been hurting so much and there had been nothing he could do about it. He wished he could protect her from this world. But that was impossible. Could he even protect her from himself at this point? He had no idea if what he had was contagious or worse yet-deadly.   
Clarke and Bellamy came back inside the tent to split up the happy couple. “We hope you have had time to catch up. Kae, we need to get you back to bed.” Clarke walked over to her and helped her off the floor. As the two exited the tent, Kae teasingly blew him a kiss and waved good bye.   
“So I guess we are rooming together tonight seeing as how you are in my tent still.” Bellamy started to pile extra blankets onto the ground in order to make himself a bed. “We went through a lot of trouble to get you back here so don’t die tonight.”  
“No promises.” And with that, Murphy let himself drift off. It had been a struggle to stay awake this long. Unfortunately, sleep wasn’t a reprieve from the horrors of life. He had nightmare after nightmare of being back in the grounders’ camp. Morning couldn’t come soon enough.  
And morning did come, but the nightmares did not end.


	26. Travis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The sickness has spread through the camp and is ruining things. Its awful...

At some point Bellamy was called out of the tent before sunrise. Murphy was still in and out of consciousness so he hadn’t realized anything was amiss. He got quite the rude awaking however when Bellamy shook him out of the most recent nightmare to bring him up to date on the real nightmare.  
“Did you know the grounders poisoned you with some virus? Whatever it is you have, it has spread all over camp. Travis, Wallace, and several others have it bad. Sean just died from it. It took less than ten hours to kill someone.”  
“I didn’t know! I swear!” Murphy struggled to comprehend all that was happening. Someone named Sean died from the virus he had. So why wasn’t he dead already?   
“Clarke is trying to figure out what this is. No one is allowed in and out of this tent until this is controlled.” Murphy watched Bellamy’s face as he said this only to see that the virus had spread to him as well. Streaks of blood started dripping down his face from his eyes. Bellamy bent over and began to cough in much of the same way he had just yesterday.   
Murphy tried to reach over and grab water for him, but Bellamy collapsed on the ground, still coughing. Murphy sat up and tried to holler for help. He needed the leader of the camp to trust him if they were ever going to let him stay here long term. He couldn’t let him die on the floor.   
Murphy eased off the side of the cot and onto the ground next to Bellamy. It took more strength than his body wanted to use, but he managed to push Bellamy onto his side to keep the blood from pooling in his throat. Finally, help came in the form of Bellamy’s sister, Octavia. She seemed thus far unaffected by the camp 100 plague.   
“Back off!” She pushed Murphy aside and helped Bellamy off the floor. She pulled him over to the bed on the floor and set him down carefully. “Don’t touch him. I’m going to find Clarke.”  
She stomped out of the tent with worry pasted across her features.   
“Sorry I helped.” Murphy muttered to no one. He pulled himself back into the cot. He seemed to feel improved from yesterday. Maybe the virus didn’t last long and Sean had been a fluke thing. He drained the cup of water sitting next to him and nibbled on the plate of food set out from the day before. He hadn’t been up to eating anything when he first got here despite having been starved for days.  
Clarke eventually shuffled into the tent. She looked exhausted and was covered in others blood. Behind her came a slew of people that had also contracted the virus. A few carried a make shift stretcher that held Travis. He looked almost gone.  
“Set him over by Murphy’s cot.” Clarke plopped down next to Bellamy to check how he was doing (not so good). “I’m going to keep all the infected inside here; try to contain it.”  
Bellamy reached toward her. “Get out of here, you don’t want to catch this.”  
She looked miserably down at him and hunkered down into the blanket bed as well. “Too late, I started showing symptoms about an hour ago.”  
“It seems to affect people differently. Sean had it only a few hours and died, some get it and seem to be baring through it, and others seem immune. It’s all a guessing game.”  
Murphy rolled over to look at Travis, resting below his cot. Travis’s breathing was shallow and his eyes flitted to and fro under his closed eye lids. Sweat seemed to pour out of this guy. Only yesterday evening, he had been bright eyed and cheery as he kept him company. He had finally shut his pie hole… But Murphy was going to miss the guy if he didn’t make it. He knew Kae cared about him too.   
Once again, he rolled off of the cot and pulled himself into a seated position next to Travis on the ground. His ribs were screaming for him to stop. Too bad! He has never been one to take orders well. He shimmied out of his shirt and balled it up. He dabbed at Travis’s sweaty face with it to try to help matters.   
Another of the 100 swayed into the tent and plopped down on the cot. Murphy guessed he wasn’t going to get his bed back now…unless the guy died…  
His terrible thoughts were interrupted when Kae burst into the tent. She had found a long, sturdy stick and was hobbling around the camp and into the tent with it. She looked so proud of herself for managing to move about on her own. “Nurse Kae ready to help!”  
“What are you doing in here!” Murphy really didn’t like to see her around all this sickness.  
“I was around you yesterday and I am still not showing any symptoms. I think it is safe to say that I am one of the lucky immunes! Now how can I help?” Kae was so happy to just be out of bed and useful again.   
Clarke pulled herself onto her right elbow and looked Kae up and down before accepting that she indeed looked healthy. “Can you manage to get water for everyone?”  
“I’ll do my best!” She maneuvered around on her walking stick and left the tent. It took her several trips back and forth to get enough for everyone. It was also difficult for her to move around the tent. It was so jam packed with people that anyone would have to carefully step over bodies to get across the area. When she had finished, she found a seat next to Murphy on the ground.  
“How’s Travis?”  
“Not good. He hasn’t woken up all day and is sweating buckets.” Murphy looked apologetically at Kae. He knew Travis wasn’t going to make it.   
Kae reached across Murphy and smoothed Travis’s hair away from his face. He had light brown curls that made him look younger than he actually was. Travis was seventeen years old. One of the older prisoners, but youngest in spirit. Kae loved how light hearted he always was when they were working together. He had been her only friend on the ground until the banishment. They would frequently stay up late into the night together and talk about imaginary adventures outside the walls and back on the Ark. She had never thought of Travis in a romantic way, but she wondered if he did of her. He would do anything for her; even go after Murphy so she could be with him instead.   
She had really been terrible to him. She had never been for him what he wanted her to be, had left him for a guy she hardly knew, and came back only to ask for his help saving that guy. And now he was dying because he was a good person and helped her.   
She stayed on the floor with him and Murphy until he finally passed away. He never woke up in the time before. He was just kind of- gone…   
Kae rested her head on Murphy’s shoulder and sobbed when they realized he wasn’t breathing anymore. She had lost a best friend.


	27. The Tent of Death

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A break in the sadness.

Most of everyone in the tent of death had fallen asleep when mid-afternoon hit. Kae and Murphy were still awake however, looking over those scattered over the ground. Murphy seemed to continue to improve in health throughout the day. His fever was down and he had an appetite of a gluttonous cow. Kae got up after she calmed down from Travis’s passing to get food for those who were hungry. Those who’s fevers were still running rampant choose to skip the food so almost all of it went to Murphy’s stomach instead.   
Between mouthfuls of food, Murphy brought up the subject that Kae was still feeling nervous about. “So, time to spill whatever it is you want to tell me.”  
Kae took a deep breath to steel her nerves then turned herself so she was looking directly at him. “Do you remember the morning the grounders came and I was puking my guts up?”  
Murphy’s brows furrowed in worry. “Yes.”  
“Clarke figured out why. John…I’m pregnant.” She watched his face for a reaction thinking he was going to panic or start firing questions at her.  
“You’re pregnant. We’re going to be parents.” A grin had taken over his face.   
All Kae could do was nod as she too broke into a large smile. Murphy reached for her hands and pulled her into his arms. She sat resting between his legs against his bare chest. His hands wrapped around her middle and he placed soft kisses on her check. She figured this couldn’t be comfortable for him, but he didn’t seem to care.   
“We didn’t know if the baby was okay after the attack, but I haven’t shown any signs that the baby is in distress. Clarke says there isn’t any way to determine how far along it is… but she believes it is healthy.”  
Murphy wished so bad that they were still in the bunker and untouched by the grounders. He wished they were there alone to share this news and that he could do more than just hold her gently against him. They had been apart so long…  
As if reading his mind, Kae turned her head toward him. “Maybe in another few days, you will be healed enough to stay somewhere with me in camp.”  
“That’s if they let me stay here. They banished me and I just brought them a plague. I can’t imagine they will welcome me back with open arms.” Murphy figured they would try to keep Kae here and tell him to leave again as soon as he had recovered enough. He wouldn’t let Kae come with him as long as she needed Clarke to look after the baby.   
“You don’t know yet. I’ll talk to them and see if they will let you stay with me. I need you here.”  
Both stayed quiet for some time after this and fell asleep with the rest of the tent members.


	28. You Idiot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The camp takes a trip East.

Murphy’s back and neck were incredibly stiff the next morning when he and Kae woke up. Sitting on the hard ground against a box all night had not done him any favors. But it was nice to wake up and see Kae snoring away in his lap like old times. Per usual, her mouth was slightly open and drool slipped out one side. When he tried to shift his position on the ground, she woke up and smiled up at him. God she was unreasonably beautiful.   
He looked up to see that many in the tent were awake as well. Some still looked like death, but others looked on the mend. Clarke and Bellamy were among those awake and improved; they were whispering between themselves. Bellamy turned to look at where Murphy and Kae were sitting. Apparently, they were the topic of conversation.   
Kae stood up to stretch her legs and then helped Murphy stand up as well. She offered her walking stick, but he didn’t take it. He wanted to see how much he could do on his own. Clarke and Bellamy stood up as well on the other side of the tent.   
They looked at those on the ground and determined that including Travis, three had died last night. Bellamy looked Murphy over then asked for his help removing the bodies. They would need to be taken outside the walls for burial. Murphy would grab the person’s legs and Bellamy would grab them under their arms and together they set each body outside.   
Clarke visited with each survivor then came over to Kae who was offering water to a girl in the corner. “I think it’s time we talked about yours and Murphy’s stay here.” She nodded toward Bellamy who walked back over with Murphy who was holding his side. Moving the bodies had been awful on his broken ribs.  
Bellamy spoke up first. “We can’t ignore your banishment Murphy. And it was decided after you chose to stay with him Kae that you would be included in the banishment. You chose a traitor over the camp. We can’t just let you both back in here.”  
Clarke piped up again. “We decided that we will let Kae stay here until she has the baby and Murphy will need to leave again until the baby is born. Then we will call your banishment served and you will both be allowed to stay here on probation. Should either of you do anything to jeopardize this camp, you will have to leave again.” She smiled at Kae like this was great news. “We didn’t want the baby to grow up outside the walls or without a father.”  
Murphy was relieved by this news. It was going to work out. But Kae was not rejoicing with him.   
“You can’t just kick him out until I have the baby! I need him here with me! I can’t do this without him!” Panic started to build in her. She couldn’t have this baby without him! What if something happened to him outside the walls! She wouldn’t be there; he wouldn’t be safe!  
Murphy turned her to face him and pulled her into his chest. “It’s going to be okay. I won’t be far and I will be back with you permanently once our trouble child is born.”  
Bellamy smiled jokingly. “Trouble child is right. Any child of Kae and Murphy is going to be trouble!”  
Kae didn’t find this as funny as he, Clarke, and Murphy did.   
“Will I be allowed to visit him anytime I want?” Kae hated this and had zero intentions of letting Murphy go again.   
Bellamy looked awkwardly at Clarke, the humor gone. “We decided that once he leaves, we want you to stay in the walls Kae. It is banishment… and it’s for yours and the baby’s safety.”  
“How long until you make me leave?” Murphy was hoping for some time with Kae who was now tearing up.  
“Bellamy and I decided to give you a week, starting today.” Clarke couldn’t even meet his eyes anymore.  
A week was something at least. By then he could be healed up enough to stand without grimacing.   
“We’re giving you a place of your own to stay in for the week. We know that time will be important to you both.” Some on the floor listening into the conversation chuckled at Bellamy’s words. The children!  
“You all laugh, but I know you’re jealous! I’m going to be having a great time while your sorry asses work!” Leave it to Murphy to find the silver lining. “Now. If you can kindly show us to our love shack.” Even Clarke was blushing something awful, but Bellamy was just smirking at the two of them. He lead them out of the tent and over to yet another tent.   
This one was smaller considerably and less fancied up. There weren’t any cots, just blankets on the ground and a small table. Kae wondered who was kicked out of their home so she and Murphy could stay here. Bellamy didn’t even stick around to say anything more. It seemed though that he and Clarke had a lot to discuss. They needed to figure out what the grounders game plan is now that they infected the camp. Kae couldn’t help but wonder if the grounders had let Murphy go on purpose so that he could spread the virus. It had all been too easy of an escape.  
“If we’re lucky, you’re already a month along and my banishment will be eight months instead of nine!”  
“I just got you back and now I have to say goodbye again. I hate this.” Kae started pacing up and down the small area. Murphy noticed she had her left hand over her stomach; he wondered if she realized she was doing that.   
“It will pass quickly and then all of this will be over. And I won’t have to see you so fat you can’t even see your toes.” Murphy wanted to see her smile again. It had been too long since all the fun they had together in the bunker.   
Kae stopped and did smile at him, but it wasn’t the same large smile she use to find easily. “You know I’ll be adorable.”  
“Ya, you will.” He reached up with his left hand and rubbed the back of his neck. He was going to miss seeing that. “But you know me, I’ll find a way to see you. I don’t do what others tell me to do usually.”  
“No you don’t. But you do listen to me.” She found her real smile again as he raised an eyebrow at her. “Like, if I told you to come over here, you would.” Murphy sauntered over obediently to where she was standing. “And…if I told you to put your hands on my hips…” Murphy slid his hands down her sides and landed so far down, you could hardly call it her hips. Kae raised up her hands and placed one on his cut cheek and let one play with his hair.   
She used her hands to pull his face towards hers and went straight for the long deep kisses that both had desired to feel since they realized they were both alive. They could have spent the entire week like this. Murphy let his hands wander over her, trying to memorize every inch of the way she felt. Kae kept her hands where they were so as not to hurt him, but drank in the feeling of him being so close.   
The mood was interrupted when Kae’s stomach let out a growl that sounded more bear-like than human. “So…food?”  
“I think we need to feed that monster before it eats me.” Murphy pulled away smiling.   
They left the tent and made their way to a table near where they stored food. Murphy left to grab what he could find and Kae stayed at the table. She looked around the camp and realized how weird it felt to be back. She was only steps away from where she use to work every day with Travis. Her eyes misted as memories of Travis dashed through her mind. She’d spent countless days here, but it no longer felt like a home.   
Those that were milling around, doing their daily tasks eyed her with various looks of curiosity. When Murphy returned, the looks changed into those of distrust or anger. Many blamed him for the loss of friends due to the virus or were upset to see that he was allowed in camp at all.   
He had brought back a helping of mystery meat for her and snuck a bite before handing it to her. She wanted to rip into it like an animal, but held back and took her time like the human she still is. Kae had almost finished when they noticed Octavia run across the camp ground and into Clarke’s tent. Bellamy was likely in there too.   
Octavia was an interesting case of a person. Back on the Ark, families were only allowed to have one child. Supplies and habitable space was limited. However, her parents had a second child-her. Bellamy is her older brother and had protected her for years. She had to hide under the floor from security checks and was never allowed to leave their living quarters. Eventually, she was discovered and their mother was punished by death. Octavia remained a prisoner until she was sent to the ground. She seems to have taken to the freedom better than anyone else here. She almost seems more grounder than one of the one hundred. Rumor has it that she helped a grounder prisoner escape and now spends her days with him. She is a warrior princess of sorts.   
About five minutes later, she, Bellamy, and Clarke emerged from the tent with panicked looks. What had Octavia told them? Everyone in the camp was gathered up for an announcement. Bellamy typically did all the speeches so it was no surprise when he started up first.   
“As you all know, we have been fighting off a deadly virus sent here by the grounders. We have lost four people from it so far. As we expected, this was only part of larger plan the grounders have. We just got word that they expect us to either leave our home or stay here and fight. The virus was a way of weakening our forces. I don’t know where we would go if we left. But I know staying here would likely be a blood bath. I personally don’t want to leave here. We have worked hard to defend it this long and have come to call this our new home. We built this all on our own from scraps! But, we need to put it to a camp vote.”  
Clarke, apparently not happy with Bellamy’s bias of staying, piped up. “We are all really weak from this virus and have very few weapons left. The grounders are trained fighters and have more numbers than us. If we stay, we will not survive. But this is a decision we need to make as a group; it is not only up to me or Bellamy. All in favor of staying, raise your hand.”  
A large number of people raised in support. Many who did were members of the guard. It was going to be a close vote.  
“All in favor of going?”  
Many hands raised again. From where Kae and Murphy were sitting, it was impossible to tell if it was more or less than the first vote. Both of them had chosen to vote in favor of leaving. Neither were in any kind of shape to fight off an army.   
“Without the vote of those that are still too sick to join us, the vote is 27 in favor of staying and 32 in favor of leaving. Pack up your things. We’re leaving.” Clarke stepped away from the front of the crowd and started giving orders on what to pack.   
Kae finished up her meal before standing up to help pack up camp. Murphy left to wash out his shirt drenched in Travis sweat before the wash area was dismantled. Kae went back to their tent and began folding up the blankets. Chances were, they wouldn’t be able to take everything with them. The small table would likely be left behind. Once the blankets were all folded and tied together, she looked for how to dismantle the tent.   
Putting up the tents when they first arrived had not been something she had helped with, so she had no idea how they were put together. If only there were some instructions she could skim over, then ignore. She went outside the tent and found that the fabric was tied to posts in the ground. Surely she could do this small job on her own! She reached down and grabbed the top of the post with both hands and tugged at it. She hoped it would pop out easily, no such luck. She continued to pull at it until it finally did give way, but she fell backwards onto her butt in the process.   
Some had witnessed the incident so she turned and waved at them. “All good here!” Now only five more posts to fall on her butt for…This isn’t how she had envisioned her week. As she suspected, each post gave her the same problem and five more times, she fell back onto her now sore butt. She would leave the rest of the tent dismantling for Murphy. How long did it take for him to wash a shirt!   
Eventually, he did wander back over to where their tent lay in pieces. “What took you so long?” Kae tried to put on her best serious face for him.  
“Bellamy wanted to talk to me about something.”   
Kae raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to explain.  
“He offered us a new deal. And I took it.” He walked over to all the rope lying on the ground and began rolling it up. Apparently, Kae was going to have to pry this new development out of him.   
“What deal did you take, John?” She didn’t have to use a mock serious face anymore. Now she was worried he had done something stupid.   
“I’ll get to be there when you go into labor now, but I have to leave now instead of in a week. He asked me to go ahead of everyone else and leave a trail for the camp to follow. I’m to find a place for everyone to settle, then disappear.”   
“Why in the hell did you agree to leave now? You gave up our one week together?” This definitely ranked under the top ten stupid choices John Murphy has made. Why did he have to be such an idiot? He should have asked her first!  
Murphy started to get defensive too. He had known she wasn’t going to take the news well. But this gave him the chance to be with her when the baby came. “Bellamy is packing me a bag of supplies then I’m heading out. So, now is the time to say goodbye. The grounders are sending snipers as we speak. If we aren’t all gone by sun down, they will start shooting. I’m giving you and the camp the best chance it has at making it through this.”   
“You better pick a good place for us then…” She came over to where he was standing and put her hands on his shoulders. He had already agreed to this so there was no changing it now. Maybe someday she would see why he thought this was a better offer. “Find a way every once in a while to let me know you’re okay. I’ll be looking.”  
The defensive tone that was bubbling up inside Murphy cooled as her tone cooled as well. “I’ll find a way. And don’t you worry, I’ll pick a real nice spot for you all to call home.” He reached his right hand down to rest on her stomach. “And I’ll look forward to meeting this bundle of trouble next time I see you. And hey, don’t kick your mom too much. I know she is a pain in the ass sometimes, but you’ll come to love her too.”   
Murphy pulled Kae in close for a hug that would never last long enough. He let his hand play with her tangled auburn hair. Kae muttered something into his shoulder. “What?” She pulled her head away so he could hear her.  
“I love you too.”


	29. I Am Weak and Needy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The camp sets out on their journey to a new home.

It was about four hours until sundown. Murphy had left nearly two hours earlier. Kae had begun busying herself taking down the rest of her tent and helping others pack. All of the tents were stacked onto a strong tarp that would be pulled to the new site. Bags were created to hold food and other necessary supplies. Guards were stationed around the outskirts of the camp ground to look for signs of the snipers’ approach. Tension ran high among the 100 as they made final preparations.   
It was going to be hard to let go of the large metal drop ship they had landed in. It was their greatest source of protection from the elements and it still held lots of potential supplies. Fuel still remained in the tanks under the ship. The camp’s engineer students were pissed off to have to leave it behind.   
Octavia had left camp again claiming to need to gather a few more things. The sick were loaded up on remaining cots that would be carried on the travel. Thankfully, there were not too many of the sick left. Fires that had been going for months were extinguished. And finally, the gates were opened for their departure.   
Kae had a bag on each shoulder. One carried some of the blankets she had folded earlier and the other held food rations. She kept the one with the blankets on the shoulder she had been shot in. It was the lighter option of the two. In her pockets, she had stuffed enough extra bandages for her healing wounds to make it to the next site. Her old knife was tucked safely away in her boot like she had done since she made it.   
With three hours left to spare, the remaining members of the original 100 prisoners left the area they had first called home on this planet. Bellamy took the lead with his guard while Clarke took the rear of the group with the sick or injured. Kae stayed somewhere in the middle of the group so there was no chance of getting lost.  
Everyone seemed to hold their breath for the first mile. Fear that the snipers would shoot early plagued them. After the first mile, it seemed likely that they had made it in time. Rumors began to spread as well that Octavia had not joined them yet. Everyone suspected that she had run away with the grounder she stayed with. This was going to hurt Bellamy like nothing else. She had been his whole world for most of his life.   
Every so often, they could see signs of where Murphy had been. He had left strips of fabric on branches to mark which direction he had gone. Like everyone else, he would have no idea where he was headed. Only that it was away from the grounders. Kae wondered how far would be far enough.   
Eventually, darkness descended on the tired group, but Bellamy sent word back through the crowd that they would press on through the night. They needed to get as far away as possible to keep the grounders from attacking.   
It was difficult for Kae to keep her balance with the two bags while she was still limping. And now that they were traveling at night, it was nearly impossible to not trip every few steps. After yet another failed attempt to not trip over a tree, Kae felt a hand on her shoulder that steadied her. The hand belonged to a girl who seemed close to Kae’s age. She had long dirty blonde hair and kind eyes. “Can I help you with one of those bags?” She smiled at her and reached out a hand for one of the bags Kae was carrying. Gosh, when had Kae started needed help carrying two bags? Oh ya, when she was shot twice, left for dead, and got pregnant. Okay, the pregnancy wasn’t a real excuse, but it was something else to blame this on.  
“Thanks, I’ll give you the one with only blankets in it.” Kae shifted the bag off her aching shoulder and passed it to the waiting hand. “I’ll take that back from you soon. I just need a minute or two…”   
“Don’t worry about it. It’s not that heavy and I not healing from a one on one grounder attack.” They continued to walk in silence through the night. Kae was having an easier time staying balanced. “Oh, by the way, my name is Harper.” She reached out a free hand to shake Kae’s.  
“It nice to see a friendly face, I’m Kae.” Kae took her hand glad that someone had finally mustered up the courage to talk to her. All day, people had avoided eye contact with her and only said one or two words to her.   
“It’s weird how people hear that you are being welcomed back in after being gone for so long because you are carrying John Murphy’s child and act like your diseased or something. To me, it seems like you’re carrying a bit of humanity back into this camp.”   
As much as they had been picked off since landing, their numbers where dwindling fast. Maybe this baby was more important than she realized. Murphy better do a damn good job picking somewhere this baby can survive. Kae wasn’t really sure how to respond to Harper’s kind words so she settled with a simple “thank you”.   
The group trekked on the route Murphy had set out through the whole night. When the sun came back up, everyone stopped for a long rest. Food and water was distributed and blankets were set out for places to rest on. Kae and Harper received their shares of food and cups of water before hunkering down under the shade of a tree. The two didn’t talk much, it was just nice to have friendly company.   
Kae rested her head against the tree and closed her eyes. Movement of light danced behind her eye lids and the sun spread over her like a water fall of warm rays. The trees were not as dense here as they had been where they came from. There was more open field of swaying grass when the breeze drifted by. As tired as she was, it didn’t take long for sleep to wipe away the sun in her vision.   
The time for rest pasted quickly and Harper was soon shaking Kae awake. She couldn’t remember what her dream was about, but had a feeling of happiness still lingering. She helped pack the bags back up and loaded herself with the bag of food once more. Once they set out, they only stopped once more that day for rest and food. Kae took that time to change out her bandages as well. No matter how far they traveled, they always found signs of Murphy having been there first. Kae kept thinking to herself when they passed such a marker that he is still alive, he is still going, and he is out there somewhere.


	30. Claimed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Murphy finds them a new home.

The following night and day was the same. They traveled all night long only to rest twice during the day. It was absolutely exhausting and attitudes were beginning to run rampant through the group. If the grounders were to attack them now, they would all have their heads bitten off by this grouchy crowd. But before anyone lost their heads, they came to a clearing that had the strips of fabric tied around everywhere like the trees were tepee-d. Home, sweet home.   
The clearing was near the ocean so a salty breeze wafted up the hill and washed over them. Looking the other way revealed hills of flowing, pale green grass. Honestly, the site was beautiful. Good job Murphy.   
Everyone split up to look around or begin setting up supplies. Bellamy and Clarke stood discussing the area, but seemed pleased. Hopefully, this area was far enough away to not cause any more issues. On the North end of the clearing, a few people gathered to look at something. The area was a bit more raised than the rest and potentially had an incredible view of the whole camp site. There was a thick tree standing on it that shaded the area in a sea of green. When Kae ventured over, she saw that a pole had been pushed into the dirt and had a strip of fabric on it, waving in the wind.   
One guy that Kae didn’t know reached out to the fabric to look at it. Apparently, something was written on it. The guy read it out loud- “For My Highness”. Everyone turned to look at Kae with various looks of envy and disgust. Kae just shrugged and walked over to the flapping piece of cloth. She took it in her hands and smoothed the cloth between her fingers. Sure enough, his kindergarten level handwriting labeled this area as property of “his highness”. It was a going away present of sorts.


	31. Symbolism

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The camp settles into the new space.

The next few days were spent unpacking and getting accustomed to the new area. All in all, it seemed to have been a good idea to have left. The area was beautiful. When they ventured over to the ocean, tiny neon colored fish danced under the waves among the kelp. New food source!   
Kae had set up her tent all on her own. That’s a lie, she pointed where she wanted it and had others do most of it. She left the fabric note on the pole where it was. She liked that it marked her home and was a piece of Murphy with her. She asked Bellamy for her old job back with creating knives. She wanted to be useful to the camp and have something to do to pass the time. Only now, scrap metal was in short supply so they were to experiment with using stones instead. Should be interesting.   
Kae fell into the routine of working in the mornings, letting Clarke do check-ups on her every so often, having dinner with Harper and others she had come to know, and looking for any sign that Murphy was okay. Nearly a month passed before she saw any sign of him. Outside the newly built walls, two eggs were placed on the ground. No one else knew why they were there or who left them, but Kae understood.   
The two eggs represented the first day she and Murphy had gone out looking for a hot meal. He had said they were going hunting. What he had really meant was- Kae, you’re climbing a tree to get some eggs. She missed that though. It was such a relief to know that all was still good on his end. One month down, seven or eight to go…


	32. Raging Hormones

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kae's life at camp during her pregnancy.

The cool spring that they had left during turned into a mild summer and a chilly autumn. Each month, the same sign was set outside the gates to signal how he was. Kae grew more and more comfortable working with rocks to create sharp tools that worked as knives or other cutting utensils. Her hands took on the same cut look they had before she ran away with Murphy. It almost seemed like things were back to the way they had been before, except there wasn’t any Travis and she was blowing up like a balloon.   
Kae was so ready for this baby to come. She had to waddle over behind a tree to pee every hour on the hour. Peeing in the woods as a pregnant woman was the hardest thing she has done in her life. She is so top heavy that angling downhill and not fouling up her pants is more or less a horrible physics problem that she can’t quite figure out. Quiet screams of frustration frequently escaped her.   
And the emotions torment her day in and day out! One-day last week, she was in her tent when she realized the bed wasn’t yet made so she started crying. And she cried and cried and couldn’t stop. Eventually, Harper stopped by to see if she was ready for dinner and found her a blubbering mess. Harper was amazing and brought dinner to her in the tent. They sat, ate, and talked until the flood of tears stopped. A similar scenario occurred when she went to the beach and watched those damn neon fish just swimming around. The beautiful colors were just too much to handle. The flood works returned for the next hour.   
Back at camp, the baby had become a celebrity. Around the clock, someone was stopping by and asking if they could put their dirty hands on her stomach and feel the baby kick. Said baby had not listened to his or her father very well. It kicked all the time. Little feet and hands poked around her belly; it looked like an alien was trying to get out of her. Numerous people had come to ask if she thought it would be a girl or boy and what she was going to name it. A sheet of bets was going around the camp. People could place rations as bets on if it would be a boy or girl and what week it would come on. So far the bets suggested that most thought she would have a boy during the first week of September. September was only three more weeks away.   
All the attention wasn’t entirely bad though. A few had made her a crib and a couple girls had found ways to dye cloth for the diapers, clothes, and blankets. As strange as it was, one guy named Benjamin liked to braid her hair for her. It had grown out considerably and was always in her way. For goodness sakes, her vision was already limited by her blimp of a stomach she didn’t need her hair causing more frustration! So she let him braid it out of the way each morning.   
Clarke visited her once a week for a check-up. At first, the baby’s progress was slow and they worried that something was wrong. But by the fourth month, the little alien grew like crazy. Kae swears that she just woke up one morning to find that the baby had doubled in size. As the months drew on, Clarke began to talk Kae through how the delivery would go. Clarke had never delivered a baby on her own, but had watched her mother deliver several ladies’ babies while they were on the Ark. A suitable area was prepared and supplies were gathered. The only thing missing was the father.


	33. Friends!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Murphy's life during the pregnancy.

Murphy hid low behind a fallen tree, back in a shadier part of the woods. He strained his ears to any sound of approaching footsteps, but he heard none. Seconds ticked by as he debated what to do. Should he risk moving from his current spot in hopes of getting the upper hand or should he stay low and wait for something to happen. He had waited long enough; he was going to make a move forward. He held his knife out in front of himself and surged toward the clearing.   
Suddenly from behind him, a hard wooden rod made contact with the back of his knees and he fell to the ground. He caught himself with this hands and swung back around to face his attacker. He held his knife towards the young grounder who smiled down at him. Murphy waited, panting, for what to do next. The grounder didn’t make a move toward him so Murphy pushed off the ground and threw himself at the grounder. Just before Murphy made contact with him, he was swatted away with the wooden rod once again and fell onto the hard Earth.   
Murphy lay on the ground knowing he had been defeated. He didn’t bother getting up again. The grounder sauntered towards him and grinned down at him. “You had enough yet?”   
“You got me. I’m done.” Murphy raised his arms in surrender. The grounder reached down to pull him off the ground, but just as he grabbed, Murphy used gravity in his favor and pulled him down to the ground. He swung his knee onto the grounder’s chest and placed his knife on his enemy’s throat. “Guess I had more in me.”   
“You’re getting better at this…” He let his head rest on the ground, looking up at Murphy. “But you’re still not good enough.” Murphy felt someone grab him from behind and toss him aside. Now it was Murphy’s turn to be at knife point as the new grounder pinned him down. This grounder was female, but older than either him or the other grounder. She looked between him and the fellow grounder. “Dinner time, boys.”   
She released Murphy and went over to the other grounder, Makeous. Murphy dusted off his pants and eyed them both. “I’m pretty sure what you did was cheating.”  
“We don’t want you to think you can actually win now can we?” Makeous came over and slapped him on the back. “And honestly, I didn’t know she was going to sneak up on you.”   
“You need to be prepared for anything, or anyone. Including someone coming to announce that dinner is ready and getting cold.” Lucia, the female grounder, began jogging back to their camp. Murphy and Makeous walked after her, knowing an amazing meal was waiting. Lucia was a fantastic cook.   
So much had changed in Murphy’s life since leaving camp 100. It had been hard going the first week or two. When he had left camp, he was still in rough shape from his time as a grounder prisoner and the deadly virus he had accidentally spread. Walking ahead of the other 100 to lead them to where they are staying now, he had only been a mile or two ahead of them. The hours of walking had hurt like hell, but he also knew that he had to stay far enough ahead that they wouldn’t catch up to him.   
When he had finally located the final spot, he had purposefully labeled where he wanted Kae to set up the tent. Not only was it a nice looking place, it was also high enough up in elevation that he could see it from a distance. For himself, he had found a cavernous area near the ocean. One of the hillsides had some good indentions that he could hunker down in. Things had been pretty quiet for a while. He could see that camp was slowly unpacking and building fences. The weather had stayed decent and there was plenty to see around him during the day.   
On one of the first hot days of summer, his predictable world became not so predictable. He had been minding his own business in his little cavern when he had a group of visitors pop in. For a moment, all he could think was- shit, this is how I die. Here, in this sorry excuse for a cave and no one will know for months. Did we not go far enough for your greedy asses to leave us alone?   
A tall lady grounder stepped forward in the group. She had dirty brunette hair that was plaited into a thick braid that reached down to her hips. She had white paint smeared under her eyes and over her collar bone. She had such an intense look that it might bore holes in a wall. Looking at Murphy she finally spoke, “I think it’s time we met”.


	34. Grounder History Lesson

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is dedicated to informing readers about grounder history and clarify who Murphy is interacting with.

Very Short Lesson in Grounder History:

When the world went nuclear and the Ark began its life in space, many took shelter in bunkers around what was the United States of America. Some stayed in these bunkers for years and others ventured out. Those that ventured out had a fifty-fifty chance of surviving the radiation. The inhabitants of the bunkers lived if their home had been slowly leaking radiation the whole time. Those that didn’t survive had been in bunkers that had actually worked to block out all of the radiation. Those that lived outside the bunkers began to have families and create multiple generations, each more adept to living in the radiation filled world. Finally, a generation came about that was totally immune to all of the radiation’s side effects. Some of these people made up the group of grounders that the 100 has had personal experience with. For a generation, this group thrived in their region of North America. However, one particularly troublesome election of chief caused a riff to form in the group. They eventually divided; some went with one elected chief and one went with the other. The 100 have only had interactions with one of these groups. Murphy now has run into the other group.


	35. I'm Fine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Murphy and the grounders have a fun time together. Honest!

As the group wandered into camp, the dusty streets buzzed with life. Families gathered together in conversations, light flickered in windows, men and women passed by on their way to friends and family, and their kids played between buildings without concern. At the end of the first street, Murphy, Lucia, and Makeous ducked into a room that danced with light from candles and the scent of warm breads and fish. Murphy plopped himself down into the chair that he had claimed as his during the months he’d been visiting. Makeous shimmied into the chair opposite him and started shoveling food onto his own plate.   
After grabbing a bowl of bread pieces, Lucia sat down at the head of the table. She too started to shovel food onto her plate and dig in. Even after months of being with them, Murphy found it hard to accept their dining habits. On the Ark, they had small rations that each person was allotted; one just barely ebbed their hunger when they scraped the last of the food off their trays. Then on the ground, they hadn’t had any skills in gathering food so once again, food was in small supply but big demand. Here, they always had more than enough and no one thought twice about the quantity.   
Murphy loaded food onto his plate and began to tear the bread into pieces he could fit into his mouth. When he was eating, he noticed how much his hair had grown out over time. His bangs brushed over his eyes and his stubble had taken on a rather dark, thick, look. The cuts that had lined his hands and arms when he left camp had become scars and his ribs no longer ached during the day.   
Lucia paused in her mouth stuffing. “I left you two eggs as usual. They are on the top shelf.” Tomorrow marks another month of being banished, so it’s time to leave eggs at camp 100’s door step as a sign to Kae that all was still good on his end.  
“I’ll drop those off first thing tomorrow morning.”   
“Will we see you again tomorrow evening?”  
“Probably. I’m usually around after all.” Murphy had been coming to their place almost every day over the last two months. They had been good to him. It had turned out when they first bombarded him in his cave home that they were the type of people to ask questions first then take action. This seemed to be what made them so different than the grounders the 100 had met first. It had been weird for a while. The grounders didn’t kill him, they asked questions, left, came back, and asked more questions. Eventually, they decided he wasn’t a threat and allowed him to stick around.   
Makeous had continued to come visit him. His mother, Lucia, who had spoken to Murphy first, had some authority in camp. So when Makeous invited Murphy to their home, people welcomed him in. Now here he was, eating with them as if he belonged here. Makeous had even taken the responsibility of teaching Murphy some fighting skills (this is why they were attacking each other before dinner).   
They had offered him a place to stay with them, but he had declined. He didn’t want to be too far from camp 100 and didn’t want to take that much help from them. He did have limits on how much help he was willing to accept. So, each night he returns to the good-ole cave home.  
Murphy finished eating and stood up to put his plate in the dirty dishes bucket. He said his goodnights, grabbed the eggs, and headed back to his place. The walk back is about twenty minutes in the dark, but he had walked it so many times now that he doesn’t have to think about where to step over logs and where to turn.   
When he reached home sweet home, he scooted himself into the hard corner and laid the eggs next to him. The stars lit up the sky and the ocean breeze sweep over him as a nice chill. His tattered shirt flapped in the rush. Looking in the direction of the camp, he could see small campfires blazing and indistinguishable figures milling around. He focused his gaze on where Kae’s tent stood. Whether or not she was in there, he couldn’t tell.   
He figured delivery day was approaching. Kae must be really large by now. He smirked at the thought of how her wacked out hormones must have amped up her stubbornness. She would be impossible to deal with. And he could guess that she was still out in the camp every day trying to be helpful, pushing herself too hard.   
When he saw her again, he was looking forward to telling her that he survived without her just fine. So she could drop that sassy act that she was only there to look after his ass. It’s more like she is there to enjoy watching his fantastic ass. Either way, his ass was hers.   
Murphy shut his eyes and breathed in the night air. His left hand rubbed the back of his neck to work out some of the soreness from the day. His body grew heavier with sleep.


	36. No Questions Asked

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harper and Bellamy team up for the big day!

Harper and Bellamy threw themselves out of the front gates and into the tepid night. The air seemed to grow warmer with each passing hour. Neither knew where to go, but they knew they only had so much time.   
Their lungs burned from running as fast as they could while they searched. They angled themselves in a new direction and wound their way down a steep hill. Bellamy asked himself why now instead of one more week. That was all he needed. He wiped sweat from his under his dark sweeping hair. All breeze in the air had ceased; the night was eerily still and quiet.   
Harper stopped running and bent over to catch her breath. Running around without any clue where to go wasn’t going to work. She closed her eyes trying to think of what to do. She knew he was close; he wouldn’t have gone far surely. Her breath coming back to her she stood up and yelled as loud as she could manage. “Murphy!” 

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Sweat pooled around him as the night pulsed with thick humidity. Sleep came and went in waves; morning would be a relief. His shirt clung to him so he sat up to pull it off and hope for some mild form of relief from humid hell. His mind grew more conscious and functioning as he did this. His ears picked up a distant sound that didn’t fit with the usual hum of waves.   
Now, he sat fully alert and listening. In the distance, he could make out the sound of someone yelling. Holding onto his removed shirt, he shimmied out of his nook and looked around. He scanned the area as best as he could, but he wasn’t at a good vantage point to see much.   
This time, he heard it more distinctly; it was someone calling out for him. He turned and quickly maneuvered up the cliff side towards the voice. About 100 yards to his left, he could make out the dim figure of two people wandering around. He hollered out to them and waved his arms above his head. His shirt flapped around like a flag in the moonlight.   
The two figures noticed him and sprinted in his direction. As they approached, Murphy could tell that one was Bellamy and the other was a young girl that he didn’t recognize. Both were red in the face and covered in sweat.   
Bellamy barely had the breath to speak. “We…need to go…back to camp…now!”   
Murphy didn’t take the time to ask questions, he just began to run towards camp. He knew the only reason they would have come for him was if Kae was either in trouble or was having their baby. This is why he didn’t stay too far away.


	37. Oh.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Baby is fully cooked and ready to make his/her debut!

Kae tossed to the right side of her cot again. Sleep was not coming tonight. The air was too warm and she was having trouble keeping her heart from racing for some reason. Her brain rambled with thoughts that were totally irrelevant at this time of night. Her hands came up and she rubbed her eyes. “Sleep already…please…” No luck in commanding herself either.   
Her heart continued to race and she began to feel nauseous. As the night drew on, her body began to ache and complain. She slowly rubbed her large belly. “I blame you for this…”   
Eventually, the aches intensified to the point that she had to double over and sweat dripped from her forehead. She steadied her breathing and closed her eyes. “Don’t puke, don’t puke…  
Oh god!” She quickly leaned over the side of her cot as her stomach emptied all of its contents onto the ground. Kae’s arms were shaking and her whole body felt like the world was spinning.   
There was no way on god’s green earth she was going to be able to stand up and get help. So she un-dignifiedly hollered out for help like a child afraid of the dark. “Anyone awake out there? I think I’m dying!”  
Thankfully, Bellamy had been out on patrol and heard her first. He came running into her tent and saw the state she was in. “I’ll go get Clarke!” Only moments later, Clarke came running inside the tent with Bellamy behind her.   
Clarke came over to Kae and helped her lean back against some pillows. Bellamy brought a cloth over and gave it to Clark who cleaned up Kae’s face. Clark looked Kae in the eyes and calmly began asking questions. “Are you hurting?”   
“YES.”  
“Tell me about what hurts”  
“Every ounce of my being aches and I’m pretty sure the world sped up to maximum spin.” Kae couldn’t control how much her whole body was shaking.  
Clarke did some doctor-y things like check Kae’s pulse and feel here and there over her stomach and back. “From what I can tell, I think the baby is coming, but something isn’t going how it’s supposed to. We are going to need to help it out.” Kae of course began to panic more.  
“Bellamy, take Harper and go find Murphy.” Without a word, Bellamy left the tent.  
“I need you to slow your breathing, Kae.”   
“What if she doesn’t make it! What if something is really wrong! What did I do wrong?!” Tears flew down her checks and her ears sang with rushing blood pulsing through her.   
“We are going to do everything we can. You didn’t do anything to cause this. But you must calm down!” Clarke took Kae by the shoulders and faced her directly. Her intense gaze brought Kae back down to earth. She tried to match her breathing to Clarke’s with mild success.   
Clarke helped her change into the make-shift gown they had prepared and laid lots of blankets under her. “OH MY GOD! I’M SO SORRY!” Kae’s face was tomato red in embarrassment as liquid pooled around her thighs.   
“Kae, you’re fine. Your water broke. It’s a good thing.” Clarke cracked a smile at Kae’s panicked look.   
“Oh.”


	38. I Had a Baby!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kae and Murphy have some time with their kiddo who is as much trouble as they are.

As it turned out, this baby was in a hurry. Within an hour, the baby was well on its way. And still no Murphy had shown up.  
“WHERE THE HELL IS THAT ASS HOLE?” Kae was in so much pain and was so done with this whole birthing thing that she just knew that the moment Murphy showed up, she was going to punch the hell out of him.  
Clarke was putting her hands where no one should ever put their hands. But ten minutes ago, she had determined that the baby was coming at a weird angle rather than head first. She was trying her best to make the baby’s transition into this world as smooth as possible. But from Kae’s point of view, she was ripping her to shreds from the inside out.  
“Stop pushing for a second…I need to turn him a little to the left.” More internal ripping pains ensued. Kae was sure she had woken up the entire camp by now with all of her screaming, but she didn’t fucking care. They could get over it. She is bringing a fucking life into this fucking world and this baby was going to be fucking gorgeous.  
“Okay, push again for me.”  
Kae closed her eyes and pushed again. In the same instant, she felt a sweaty hand grab hers. She didn’t need to open her eyes to know it was her baby’s ass of a father. But, her anger melted away before she had the chance to rip him to shreds. Instead she started crying and leaned her face into his side. She used her free hand to try to punch him, but it was a weak attempt.  
He smoothed her hair away from her face. “You look like shit your highness.”  
“Shut the fuck up…” Without her anger, she was suddenly exhausted. Yet another crippling pain shot through her and her screams returned.  
Murphy looked towards Clarke and saw the concern that lined her face. “You’re so close to the end of this Kae, but I need you to hold on a bit longer. I need to adjust him one more time. It’s a big adjustment so it’s going to be the worst yet. Take a deep breath and nod when you’re ready.”  
Kae still hadn’t opened her eyes since Murphy had gotten there. When he reached up and held her face in his hands, she let herself look at him. “You are the most stubborn and the strongest person I know. So you tell our kid to get out here and stop this shit. I know you can do this.”  
Kae nodded, not taking her eyes off his, and grabbed his hands. She looked at Clarke and gave her the go ahead.  
Pain rippled through her like a bullet. Kae lost all sense of the world; it was all blinding pain. She didn’t even have enough brain power to pray for death to save her from this hell. Sweat dripped from her face and traced down her back. Screams and sobs escaped her clenched teeth. Every fiber of her being seemed to have set itself on fire.  
Only an instant later, the blinding pain turned into a dull throb. Kae didn’t unclench her hands from Murphy’s. She kept her eyes closed and waited for pain to return. She quickly breathed in and out; all she could hear was her lungs filling with air over and over again. The rest of the world was stone silent.  
Then, like a roaring wave of noise Kae’s ears started to pick up sound again. She could hear Murphy saying her name, but it sounded so far away, not like he was standing right next to her. His voice grew louder and closer each time she heard it until his voice was as it should be. Kae opened her eyes to look at him. Tears raced down his face, but he was smiling at her.  
“Hey…” Her mind was still too sluggish to form cohesive thoughts.  
Murphy’s hand came up and brushed back her hair. He was still crying and smiling at her. “I thought you’d finally given up on me and left for good.”  
All she could muster was a confused face in response. What did he mean?  
“Kae, you passed out and stopped breathing. Your heart was barely beating and stopped. We didn’t know if…when Clarke did CPR and brought your vitals back up…you didn’t wake up.  
Kae gave his hand a gentle squeeze in response, but let his broken words sink in. Sun was streaming into the tent and she was laying on clean sheets. The sun’s rays caught little particles of dust that swam and swirled over her head. A small bucket of water and a cloth sat to her right while Murphy sat to her left. Quiet bird chirps rang outside the tent. The smell of fresh rain blew through the air. It was a new day.  
The dust particles were disturbed as Clarke ducked inside. Her face lit up when she saw that Kae was awake. But she quickly went back to a serious face and went into doctor mode. “I need you to drink some water.” She lifted a small cup to Kae’s lips and she obeyed. “Can you tell me where you are?”  
“In camp, in a tent, by the ocean, on Earth…” Her words came out scratchy and her head hurt with the noise.  
“Perfect! Do you know what’s going on?”  
Murphy looked her in the eyes and gave her hand a squeeze. “I…oh my gosh! I was having a baby! Where is he?!” She started to try to sit up and was already flinging the blankets off herself when Clarke and Murphy both gently pushed her back down onto the cot. “Someone tell me right now where he is or so help me I will fight you!” She paid no attention to her throbbing head and ringing ears. She kicked her legs at them and directed her angry face at Murphy who should be helping her.  
“Kae! Stop! She is fine!” Murphy was practically sitting on her to keep her still.  
“I demand to see my baby right now!” Kae had gotten one hand free and was pushing at Murphy to get him off of her.  
Harper strode into the tent carrying a bundle in her arms. “It sounded like she was fine so I thought I should come on inside…”  
“Thank you Harper.” Clarke relinquished her hold on Kae.  
Kae had stopped fighting them and lay there not sure what to do next. That wrapped up bundle was a baby. Not just a baby, her baby. Murphy stood up and took the wiggling blankets from Harper’s arms. He carefully supported the top and middle of the bundle. Kae had never seen such adoration and overwhelming joy on his face. “Ready to meet Mom? She’s crazy, but I love her and you will too.” He sounded somewhat out of breath from wrestling Kae down.  
He sat down on the edge of the cot slowly and Kae raised herself up to a sitting position, now very tired from her thrashing. Clarke and Harper quietly snuck out of the tent so only Kae, Murphy, and baby were left.  
Kae leaned over to look at the tiny bundle and tears swept down her face. “Would you like to hold her?” Murphy extended her towards Kae.  
“Her?” Kae couldn’t take her eyes off the wrinkled, round face looking back at her.  
“We have two of you trouble makers now.”  
Kae took her baby girl into her arms and took in every feature the love of her life held. She had her dad’s eyes. She already had a look about her that told Kae she was going to be as reckless as both her parents. She could hardly wait to find out. But at the same time, she never wanted her to change. She was perfection. She was fucking gorgeous.  
“So, I didn’t want to name her without you, but I have a thought for a name.” Neither Murphy nor Kae looked away from their baby girl’s face. “I was thinking maybe Thalia.”  
Kae tried to remember where she had heard that name before… It was from the photograph in the bunker. Thalia had been written on the back of the picture of the mother and baby. It had been right after finding the picture that the two of them had first opened up to one another. That picture was somewhere laying on a shelf in the bunker, left behind. The best memories either of them had where left in there too.  
“I think Thalia is perfect.”  
As if in approval, tiny Thalia let out a not so tiny poop.


	39. Your Turn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This the final chapter of my story. I felt really sad to end it, but it seemed like the best place before I went onto something else. Maybe someday I'll have the chance to write a sequel. For now though, this was enough of an accomplishment! If you're curious, this is my first long piece of work and it took almost 6 months to write. I am a full time student, have a job, and run several organizations on my campus, so having time to write was few and far in between. I did base Kae's character after my own personality- especially her sass. I hope you enjoyed reading this!

Kae had still been pretty wiped out from nearly dying so she had trouble staying awake for long. She made Murphy promise to stay near her with Thalia while she slept; that baby was going nowhere!   
Like most all babies, Thalia pooped and cried a lot. Kae rolled over from her nap, “your turn dear”.   
“Again? I did it the last two times! This girl makes a mean stink.” Murphy pretended to wave fumes away and made a sour face.   
“Until I recover from almost DYING, it’s your turn.” Kae smirked and rolled back over. “Besides, she gets her mean stink from you I’m sure.”   
When Kae woke up again, Thalia was in their make-shift cradle and Murphy was passed out asleep on the floor next to her.   
Kae carefully stood up and placed her blanket over Murphy. She stepped outside the tent for the first time in days. The warm sunlight felt amazing on her tired skin. The first person she spotted was Bellamy. She waddled her way over to him and gave him a big hug. To her surprise, he hugged her back. “Thank you.”  
“For what?” He stepped back from her and gave her a puzzled look.  
“For being there. And helping me over and over again.” He had taken care of her and helped her any time she needed something.   
“You’re welcome. I’m glad you’re doing okay now.” He really meant it. She was an incredible person to know. Would he ever figure her out? Probably not. But that’s one thing that made her great.   
She walked around for a while longer and discovered that moneys for the baby bet had been properly exchanged that morning. Later, Murphy came up behind her. “Harper’s looking after our stinker.” They both took a seat on the east side of camp. “We haven’t gotten to talk yet.”   
They both took turns telling the other about the last eight months apart. Kae explained about working with the stones instead of scrap metal and showed him some of what she had made. She told him about how amazing Harper has been through the whole thing.   
When Murphy told her about what he has been doing, she could hardly believe her ears. There are other grounders out there? Nice ones? “You need to tell Bellamy and Clarke about this! They need to know!”   
“I will. I’ve already explained to the grounders that I would eventually tell you all about their camp. They want to keep things friendly between the two camps if possible. They are really good people, Kae. I want you to meet Makeous and Lucia soon.”   
“That’s who you have been staying with?”  
“Yes. I want you to think about living with them instead of here.”  
“John…”  
“Don’t say anything until you meet them. We have never really belonged here anyway. Why not go somewhere we’re welcomed?”  
“I won’t say anything until I meet this Makeous and Lucia, but thus far, I’m not buying.” Kae had come to love being part of camp 100. Over the last eight months, this had become home. She didn’t want to leave Clarke, Bellamy, or Harper especially. And now, the three of them could be welcomed here finally. She wanted somewhere safe to raise Thalia.   
The next morning, Murphy told Bellamy and Clarke about the grounders. At first, they were pissed at Murphy for having kept this a secret and peppered him with questions. Kae stayed back in her tent and coed at Thalia, well away from the firing shots. When they had calmed down, Murphy left to go talk with the other camp. Bellamy had agreed to meet this new group of people.   
The following evening, the two camps met together. Tension ran high as the 100 feared they would be another group of murderous crazy people. Within thirty minutes, emotions were soothed and friendly conversations had erupted. Both camps wanted to remain fully separated, but have an alliance to remain friendly and benefit each other’s needs.   
Bellamy was enthralled with their military developments while Clarke talked endlessly with the camp doctors. They all had much to learn from each other.  
Murphy walked over to where Kae and Thalia stood to the side. Kae was eyeing everyone that came near suspiciously. Her arms were wrapped protectively around Thalia. “No one here wants to hurt her. In fact, some have babies of their own.” Murphy pointed over to a lady with a toddler who was digging in the dirt.   
“I know… I just don’t know them.” She stayed on full alert. Thalia burped.   
“Well, I want you to meet Makeous and Lucia. They are waiting on my que to come over here.”   
“You trust them completely?” Kae wasn’t too keen on this meet and greet.  
“Completely. So much so that I want to be their neighbor.” He turned around and signaled for two of the grounders to wander over. Kae stepped slightly behind Murphy.  
Kae studied them as they got closer. They were ridiculously tall. And the female, Lucia, had white paint smeared under her eyes and over her chest. Nope, nope, nope! Kae wanted out of here.   
“Kae, this is Makeous and Lucia. They are ravenous wolves that have come to devour you and our child.” Murphy tried to side step a bit so Kae wouldn’t be hiding behind him.  
Kae shot him a look saying that she would get him back later for that comment and stepped out towards the grounders a bit more.   
Makeous extended a hand in greeting. “It’s good to finally meet the infamous Kae. I’ve heard a lot about you.” A large grin stretched across his face.   
Kae shifted Thalia’s weight to one arm and shook Makeous’s hand. “I hear you’ve been beating up on my man…”  
“Um, I haven’t actually hurt him. I’ve been trying to-“  
Kae cut him off and smiled. “Thank you.”  
Lucia and Makeous both laughed at this. “Your stories of her sass seem to be true Murphy!” Lucia looked down at little Thalia. “So this must be who has been keeping you away the past few days.”  
“Lucia, Makeous, I would like you to meet Thalia the stink bomb.”  
Kae looked at Murphy. “Don’t introduce our daughter as a stink bomb! Let them decide on their own!”   
“Don’t worry Kae, we’ve known Murphy long enough to know to ignore him. She is beautiful.” Lucia smiled down at the bundle Kae was carefully holding.   
The rest of the evening, the group sat around and talked about Murphy’s stay with the other camp and about Thalia. Murphy had been right about these people. Kae still wasn’t convinced that they needed to pick up and move camps, but she was open to listening to his argument for it now. In the meantime, they were content to enjoy a life with Thalia in it and not having to worry about being separated again.   
Thalia filled her diaper again. Kae looked over at Murphy. “It’s your turn.”  
“Oh no! It is your turn now! It’s time Mom had her turn wiping up baby shit.”   
“But this tired ass is a lazy ass…”  
“No, it’s definitely your turn.”  
“Together?”  
“Okay your stubborn highness…”


End file.
